That feeling
by Mosshh
Summary: It's after graduation and Quinn realises she has a 'feeling' but what feeling? Will a kiss reveal all or is it more complicated than what meets the eye. Quinn is unsure at first but soon realises what she wants, but is it what someone else wants?
1. You're late

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or Glee.  
>This is my first fanfiction, I'd appreciate it if you could comment and review please. I'll update as soon as I can.<br>Enjoy**

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><p>Looking in the mirror all Quinn could see was the bitchy facade she'd put up for most of her life. Makeup covered up the tired patches under her eyes and a painted on smile was all Quinn needed to convince everybody that everything was alright. Tonight, she thought, everything was going to change. She wasn't sure how it was going to change, but something was going to. Staring at her clock she realised that Santana would be at her house any minute, so she grabbed her bag, double checked her hair and makeup in the mirror and went downstairs to wait.<p>

It was another party at Puck's to celebrate their graduation. Quinn had a sneaky feeling the entire Glee clubs summer was going to be spent at either Puck's house or out in the town of Lima doing whatever teenagers do best. With Puck's pool cleaning business still up and running he had the opportunity to ask many favours of the mothers he'd met. This evening's favour was sleeping with his next door neighbour to make sure she wouldn't call the cops for loud music or underage drinking; it must have worked, Quinn thought, or otherwise they wouldn't be going. Despite Puck's 'badass' behaviour no one thought even he would risk getting caught and possibly arrested.

Quinn, now sitting down on the couch playing with a lock of her golden hair began to wonder what tonight would entail. More spin the bottle maybe? Her facial expression changed quickly into a frown she remembered the last game of spin the bottle and how everybody ended up doing things they regretted. Brittany got so drunk she began giving Santana a lap dance, not realising that Artie was still in the room. Santana, incredibly drunk herself, didn't even try to stop the blonde as she saw Artie wheel himself quickly out of the room.

However, that was not the worst event. The worst event in Quinn's opinion was definitely playing seven minutes in heaven. Everybody minus herself and Kurt were completely smashed by then, so they took charge of how the game would proceed. Kurt decided that the fairest way would be to spin the bottle twice and those two people would be paired off with each other. At the beginning this seemed like a good idea; until of course Santana was paired off with Brittany, Blaine with Rachel; which for some reason caused more annoyance for Quinn but she discarded this feeling; Quinn then paired off with Finn; Mike with Artie; Kurt with Tina and Mercedes with Sam. Realising that Puck had no one to pair with, Mike offered him to join himself and Artie.

Mercedes and Sam seemed to be happy that they were paired together and skipped off to Pucks backyard. At the time Quinn convinced something between them was going on until Sam stormed back into the house declaring that he was going home. Even now no one knew what actually happened between the two in the yard, both had sworn to secrecy. Kurt couldn't even convince Mercedes to tell him what was wrong, even after offering her his wardrobe assistance for an entire year.

The next major dilemma was that of Rachel and Blaine. Rachel (being more of a light weight than Blaine) had no control over her actions and most definitely her emotions. Every so often the scattered Glee club members would stop in their tracks, raise their eyebrows and direct their eyes to the guest room, as all anybody could hear was the very out of tune diva attempting to serenade Blaine with an intermittent Blaine yelling for help. In the first place neither of the glee clubbers could understand why Blaine was screaming for help until Puck tried to get into the room to break them apart. This severely annoyed Puck, until an extremely drunk yet slightly humorous Brittany pointed out that Rachel must have locked the door in attempt to seduce him. Pucks annoyance seemed to subside a little bit and then Mercedes piped up, "Leave Blaine in their sister let him get a taste of his own medicine."

Puck and Brittany turned around to notice that a drunk, tear stained and makeup smeared Mercedes was standing right behind them. Puck asked, "What do you mean a taste of his own medicine? Blaine's an alright guy when he's drinking and not fawning over Kurt."

Mercedes chose to ignore that statement and carried on by saying, "Remember when he strung Kurt along and then dated Rachel thinking he was straight? Yeah? Let him get a taste of his own medicine by realising what it would actually have been like to date her. Kurt was real upset when that happened, I've never seen him eat so much ice cream, so let him suffer or I'll break your face Puckerman."

Even in Pucks drunk state he looked taken aback by Mercedes aggressive behaviour and then noticed her smudged makeup. "Okay, I'll leave him but if she starts singing Celine Dion I'm getting him straight out of there, got it? Anyway, where's Sam," Puck asked, "I thought you guys were paired off?"  
>Mercedes started to protest, "We were but..." She stopped suddenly remembering that she didn't want anybody finding out about 'that'. "Forget it Puckerman, you're too drunk to care." Puck was about to argue back when Brittany said, "He tried to put his car in your garage didn't..." But she was stopped mid sentence by a swinging fist by Mercedes. Luckily Puck had gottn between the two girls and separated them telling them to leave them before he made them leave himself. Brittany skipped back across the hall to an oddly topless Santana, who looked a little miffed about something and Mercedes announced she didn't need Puck's help to leave.<p>

Quinn was suddenly distracted by her thoughts as the clock struck 7pm. Santana was late and Quinn couldn't stand lateness. After spending the majority of her high school years on the Cheerio's, Quinn had adapted some of Coach Sylvester's pet peeves. Coach Sylvester's biggest pet peeve; she hated people turning up to practise late. Santana was never late to Cheerio's practise so why is she late now; Quinn wondered, but she was soon distracted by the thoughts of Santana's and Brittany's pairing off at Puck's last party.

Despite Artie leaving in a rage, Brittany still was persistent on taking Santana upstairs for their 'seven minutes in heaven.' Brittany had skipped off tugging Santana by her hand all the way up Puck's parent's room. After the party Quinn had asked Santana what had happened between the two, and she was shocked to hear a disappointed and hung over Santana say, "Nothing really, she tried it on but I pushed her away." Quinn remembered looking quite taken aback by this news but quickly changed her facial expression as she saw Santana frowning at her. "I'm not a complete whore you know; I do have _some_self restraint." Quinn had no doubts in Santana that she had self restraint but something in her head just didn't make sense. "You came out with a love bite on your chest and a lipstick marks on your neck, so how did they happen if you pushed her away?" Quinn noticed Santana's face drop. She barely saw the girl show any more emotions than that bitchy facade she displayed during school, so seeing Santana genuinely upset must have meant something didn't go according to plan.

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><p><strong>Kind of cliff hanger there, i'll update soon, hope you enjoyed it.<strong>


	2. To everybody's shock

**Disclaimer: I do not own any oif the characters or glee. Welcome to chapter 2, sorry it starts off slow but it will get better I promise. Reviews and comments would be good please. (:**

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><p><strong><span>Chapter 2<span>**

Before Quinn could ask about what actually happened Santana was already explaining. "Brittany was completely out of it okay, I know I was too but I still had control. I knew what I was doing. She started off talking about a collection of ducks she has and then the next thing I knew she was on top of me undoing my shirt buttons. I asked her to stop but she was too out of it to understand me." Santana had noticed Quinn's blank expression and shouted, "Look if you don't believe me I'm not wasting my breath in telling you okay." Quinn remembered looking shocked and had reassured the brunette that she did believe her. Santana had carried on explaining saying that she'd been really tired by the time Brittany had undone her shirt and she wasn't aware Brittany had even fully taken it off of her until she felt Brittany's soft, hot lips brushing their way down her neck to her chest. "So, by the time I found the energy to push her off completely the love bite was already there. Even if I hadn't have pushed her off Blaine's sissy screaming would distracted her." Quinn had rubbed Santana's arm saying that she was sorry for what had happened, but Santana didn't and never wanted people to feel sorry for her so she just pushed Quinn's hand away.

Once again Quinn's thoughts were distracted, but this time by the sound of the door bell. Quinn glanced quickly at the clock, 7:20, where the hell had Santana been Quinn wondered? Grabbing her bag she shouted a hurried goodbye to her mum as she passed the stairs on her way to the door. Before Quinn had fully opened the door Santana was already spilling her excuses and apologies. Barely fazed by what Santana was saying, she stopped.  
>"Are you not mad I'm late?" Santana asked eyeing Quinn suspiciously. "Yeah, actually I really am, but forget it."<br>"Are you okay Q, I don't think I've ever seen a forgiving side of you before," Santana said teasingly.  
>Quinn snapped her gaze upwards and Santana stopped smiling. Quinn could be really scary when she wanted to be and Santana never deliberately got on the wrong side of her. "I didn't forgive you actually, I just said forget it." That's more like it, Santana thought, the normal not-backing-down Quinn.<p>

The drive to Pucks wasn't a particularly long one but Santana and Quinn still found time to laugh at Puck's last party. Although Quinn hadn't found it completely amusing, especially her incident with Finn, Blaine and Rachel had really made the night. "I still remember you running out of the kitchen soaked in water," Santana said laughing, but still not taking her eyes off of the road.  
>"It wasn't funny, I will still never forgive Finn for that."<br>"Okay you're right, if I was paired off with him, had him through himself at me, offer me sex on the kitchen table and then throw a glass of water over me because I declined, I'd be pretty pissed too."  
>"Exactly, so don't laugh," Quinn responded coldly.<p>

Santana took her eyes off of the road for a few seconds to look at Quinn. She looked stunning this evening. Quinn wasn't one for wearing oh-so-tight clothes after giving birth to Beth, but tonight Quinn wore tight black skinny jeans, a baggy white top that looked like someone had thrown black paint at it, a jet black cardigan and in her lap was her bag and leather jacket. Looking back at the road Santana pondered over the thought of Quinn seeming different. Not only was she dressed differently but she had almost forgiven Santana back at the house; Santana was convinced that Quinn had only corrected herself because Santana mocked her for nearly forgiving her.

Even if Santana and Quinn didn't already know where Puck lived, it would be hard to miss the house. The music could be heard at the end of the street and there were already a few cars parked at the entrance to Pucks drive. Santana noticed a space write in front of Puck's double garage and as she pulled into the drive Santana decided that she'd just keep an eye on Quinn for the evening. It was pointless trying to talk to her now and wreck their evening. As Quinn stepped out of the car she couldn't help but thinking that Puck must have pulled some pretty big strings or been extremely good in bed with the entire street and not just the next door neighbour so that the police wasn't called on them.

Santana lifted her hand to knock on the door, but she could the door flew open and Mercedes and Kurt danced out the front door singing at the top of their voices. Quinn's eyebrows rose as her eyes followed the pair; she turned to look at Santana. "Hey, you, Queer and Diva Queen! Drunk already?" Quinn shot Santana a look of death but Santana only mouthed back "what?" However, Kurt and Mercedes were singing so loudly with their eyes screwed closed they neither heard nor noticed that the blonde and the brunette had even just arrived. Turning back to the door where Puck was now standing Santana saw Rachel skip past holding onto Finn's hand, cleaning dragging him along to somewhere. Puck was wearing his usual skin tight vest top showing off his erect nipples and dark blue jeans. "Happy to see me are you?" Santana teased, biting her lip and running her hand across Pucks chest as she entered the door. Puck, already a little bit tipsy instantly looked down at his jeans and blushed a little but then quickly looked up bewildered. What had she meant, he thought? Then he ran his hand across his chest just as Santana had done and felt his own erect nipples; he yelled after her, "It's just cold!"

Puck then walked inside and Quinn followed. Puck skulked off to go and find Santana so Quinn was left to walk in to the lounge alone. Everybody had already arrived and was either deep in conversation or deep in a video game on Puck's Xbox. Sitting down on the couch next to Tina Quinn let out a sigh, it was only, she checked her phone, 7:30, and the majority of the glee clubbers were already drunk. "Yeah! Well done you got him straight in the eye I swear," said Mike taking a sip of his beer whilst congratulating Sam on his 'awesome' kill on whatever game they were playing. Quinn scanned the room. It was an adequately sized room, it fitted all the glee clubbers in perfectly anyway. On the walls pictures were hung up here and there of Puck and his various family members. There also seemed to be a picture by picture guide of what hairstyle Puck had had over his years. A picture with a label stating 'Puck aged 5,' didn't even look like Puck. The young boy had a full head of hair, almost an afro and his sweet chestnut brown eyes smiled as widely as his mouth did. Quinn noticed these pictures on the wall and chuckled to herself.

"Rach, you dragged me all the way to kitchen to just get a drink that you could have got on your own in the first place. I'm going back to play the Xbox with Sam and Mike." Finn said as he entered the room with a dishevelled look on his face. Mike and Sam welcomed him back with a high five whilst Rachel started ranting at him. "Finn Hudson, all I wanted you to do was escort your girlfriend to get a drink, it wasn't an impossibly task for even your sized brain." At this Finn looked up looking like he was about to explode, but Rachel persisted regardless. "But it's fine, you carry on wasting your time playing a game that is corrupt and doesn't even represent the society we live in; I can't be that important to you can I?"

"Rach, it was just a stupid drink, we have all evening to spend together and as a group so just leave it."  
>Quinn looked up at Rachel and could read the expression on her face; she was about to explode. So before she could Quinn very calmly said, "Good evening Rachel how are you?"<p>

At this, everybody stopped and turned to stare at Quinn. Even the boys stopped their game to look at Quinn for a few seconds before a voice on the Xbox said, "You have been killed." They quickly turned back around and this time it was Finn's turn to play. A few seconds passed and everybody got back to their conversations. Rachel was never lost for words, but at this moment in time, she didn't know what to say. After the way Quinn had always treated her so badly, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, out of the complete blue, here was Quinn Fabray asking how Rachel Berry was. Not wanting Quinn to notice her loss for words, Rachel quickly retorted, "Oh, Quinn, it's so nice of you to finally show your face thirty minutes late."

Rachel expected a quick witty remark back from Quinn, even a dig at the clothes she had picked out this evening, which for once weren't that bad. She was wearing tight denim jeans, a flowing white blouse and shiny black one inch heels. Rachel wasn't even sure why she had snapped at Quinn. Maybe it was to get her back for everything she'd put Rachel through, but deep down Rachel wasn't like that. The diva began to feel bad for what she said, until Quinn's response shocked her into silence again. "I'm sorry S and I was so late, but it couldn't be helped." Usually Quinn would have taken a dig at her clothes, or found something witty to say back but this was the new Quinn she thought to herself; and anyway for once, Rachel's choice of clothes wasn't that bad, not that Quinn would ever dare voice this opinion to anyone. "Oh," Rachel stammered and she left the room. Quinn hadn't noticed that Santana had been standing in the doorway listening to their conversation the entire time until she said, "Someone spiked your drink already, your being nice to the dwarf."

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><p><strong>For chapter 3, you may find out what happened between Mercedes and Sam last time.<strong>


	3. Drenched

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or glee.  
><strong>

**Okay it's quite a bit longer than the first one, tell me what you think. I'll try make the next chapter shorter.**

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><p>Quinn didn't quite know how to respond to Santana so she stalled the conversation by announcing that she really needed a drink. 'Damn!' she thought. 'Santana is going to be on my case all evening now, why the hell didn't I check to see who was actually listening.' But before Quinn could finish her thoughts she felt someone's presence behind her. Santana.<p>

'So Q, what's going on? You haven't been okay since I got to yours, you didn't even flip out at me for being late; yet one insult at school a couple of years back and I was pinned against a locker, so spill.' Quinn screwed her eyes up and swore under her breath. What on earth could she say to shut Santana up? Nothing. Not turning around Quinn opened her mouth and said, "Nothing is going on Santana, I'm just, feeling forgiving."

"Quinn Fabray, forgiving? I really don't think so." Santana snorted.  
>Quinn whipped around, "Hey, I <em>can <em>be forgiving when I want to be." Santana raised her eyebrows. Quinn continued, "Just I choose not to most of the time." The girls both smirked.  
>"See, that's that Q that I know." Santana said as she drew Quinn into a hug. "I'm just worried you're starting to go soft."<br>Quinn pushed Santana away, "You're afraid I'm going soft? Look, we're not all like you, we don't all want to push everybody away and put on a tough look to make people believe that we're okay. We're bloody human Santana; we don't have to be okay all of the time; we're not robots that have no emotions." Quinn had tears welling up in her eyes and she turned away from Santana to stare straight out of the window. The window looked out onto the street. A couple of kids were outside with huge grins on their faces kicking a ball between themselves. The sight of the children made a single tear roll down Quinn's face, for a second it hung on the end of her mascara-darkened eye lashes; then it dropped and splashed down her cheek. It reminded her of Beth, and the future they could have had, but she had no choice but to give her up. Wiping the tear away with her hand, Quinn turned round again to face Santana's blank expression.

The Latina seemed lost for words. She'd never seen Quinn like this, well, except when she was pregnant. 'Oh hell,' Santana thought. Santana then voiced her thoughts, "Erm, you're not, you know, again are you?"  
>"What pregnant?" The tears were welling up again. "It wrecked my life enough before, how stupid do you think I'd be to let that happen again?"<br>"Sorry, I just thought…you being emotional and that."  
>"So I can only be emotion when I'm…" Santana cut across her. "No! I didn't mean that! I just meant, it's worrying seeing you like this, you're always the tough one Q." Santana took a careful step forward and laid her hand gently on Quinn's shoulder giving it a quick squeeze. Santana felt Quinn tense beneath her so removed her hand.<br>"To me, you've been like a sister; I didn't mean to upset you. Damn Quinn you know I'm not good with words."  
>The blonde smiled up at Santana, her eyes glistening with tears. Santana pulled her into a tight embrace, and for the first time in Quinn's life, she was grateful that the Latina was there for her. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to snap at you before. I'm just sick of pretending everything's okay when it isn't. I hate treating everybody like they're dirt. I'm not like that Santana I'm not."<p>

The tears were pouring freely now. Santana, not knowing what to say, just hugged Quinn tighter and stroked her hair. She didn't want to feel patronizing but she didn't know what else to do. Never had Quinn been like this before; even when she was pregnant. There were tears but they were usually over Quinn putting on too much weight or her new clothes not fitting properly.

"Can I come in? I wanted a glass of water. Everybody else is so drunk and I don't wish to take part in it." Rachel said, looking at the floor; not daring to look the Latina in the eyes.  
>"Get out man hands." Santana shouted.<br>Quinn let go of Santana, wiped away the last of her tears and said, "Santana go and enjoy yourself, if I need you I'll come and find you I promise. If you hear me scream however, it's probably because Finn has drenched my shirt again." Rachel frowned at this last comment but continued to look at the floor. Santana rubbed the blondes arm and left, nudging her shoulder into Rachel's as she walked past.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt anything. I'll just go," Rachel stuttered.  
>"No, it's fine, honestly." Quinn said smiling. She noticed something else about Rachel this evening apart from her shockingly good dress sense. Every time Rachel and Quinn had spoken; Rachel had either left quickly or not kept eye contact. Quinn was even slightly convinced that she had a pink tinge to her cheeks as she apologised for interrupting. Convincing herself that it was nothing Quinn carried on talking. "Me and Santana, well we were just talking, nothing important. Here, you can get your water now."<p>

Quinn took a step out the way, but Rachel still didn't move. "I don't bite Rachel," Quinn joked.  
>"No I'm sure you don't Quinn, but being a vegan I don't think I'd taste that great. I'm just confused; you've forgiven me twice in the space of…" Rachel looked at her watch, "twenty minutes," she finished.<br>"Yes, well I'm in a good mood so don't push it," Quinn said teasingly.  
>Rachel smiled and walked forward, she put down her cup and poured herself some water out of a giant, patterned, glass jug. Quinn watched as she did so noticing that her hands were shaking as she was pouring.<br>"Pass it here, I'll pour it, you're shaking." Quinn looked genuinely happy as she said this; Rachel however looked rather taken aback, blushed and tried to think of an excuse.  
>"Finn annoyed me before, not getting the drink for me, that's why I'm shaking." Rachel explained.<p>

Quinn handed Rachel the now full glass of water and said, "It's fine, Finn's well, not exactly mature when girls are involved." Rachel had just taken a sip of water but choked. Quinn looked mortified, she hadn't meant for Rachel to choke, she might not have ever seen eye to eye with the girl but she didn't want to kill her.  
>"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" Quinn said grabbing the glass from Rachel.<br>Once Rachel had stopped choking she laughed. Quinn looked bewildered. 'I nearly killed you and you're laughing?' Quinn thought.  
>"You're face. That really was priceless Quinn." Rachel snorted, still laughing. "I choked because I laughed at what you said about Finn."<br>Quinn's face loosened into a little smile, the edge of her lips curling just slightly. "Don't do that again Rachel, I thought I'd bloody killed you!"  
>Rachel laughed even harder at this and her hazel brown eyes looked alight with happiness. Quinn had never noticed how the light fell on her eyes before. It wasn't something she tended to look for; usually she just looked for a bad sense in fashion that was noticeable from a mile off; but due to an unexpected exceptional outfit this evening, Quinn had to admire her at a closer distance.<p>

Quinn hadn't realised that Rachel's laughter had set her off too and both the girls were soon in fits of hysterics. Quinn began to lose her breath so attempted to stop laughing. As she stopped, Rachel's laughter subsided too. "Can I?" Quinn pointed at the glass she was holding.  
>"Sure," Rachel said, beaming.<br>Quinn took a swig and in the same second she'd taken the swig, she'd spat the entire contents back out, not realising that Rachel was standing just a foot from her.  
>Rachel screamed, and Puck flew through the door. "Are you being attacked? What's going on?"<br>Rachel's eyes were screwed up and the top of her blouse started to go see through.  
>"You put Vodka in the jug that Rachel thought was water!" Quinn yelled at Puck.<br>"Well, she needs to lighten up a bit, she didn't notice, she's had a glass of it already."  
>"That's not the point Puckerman! If she doesn't want to drink she doesn't have to, so don't force it on her! Take the jug before I pour its contents down the sink," Quinn retorted sternly.<p>

Puck's face froze, a hell of a lot of sex, effort and money went into getting that Vodka and he was not about to waste it. He vaulted the table and snatched the jug from Quinn. Walking out the room he yelled, "And get a sense of humour too Quinn, I thought Rachel was bad."

Quinn stood stock still not knowing what to do or say. She picked up a cloth and walked over to a seething Rachel, who was now sitting on a chair. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to…" Quinn started but got interrupted by Rachel saying, "Don't worry about it, it's not like it's a slushie or anything. I just can't believe that Noah would do something like that."  
>"Yeah, anyway let's get you cleaned up."<br>Quinn handed the cloth to Rachel who started to sponge at her blouse. Not knowing where to look, Quinn took to the window again. It was getting late now and the children had gone in. Looking up to the sky a beautiful array of colours began to form a sunset. From the other room the blonde could hear Santana about to start a game of truth or dares; it sounded like a good idea, well, better than seven minutes in heaven; but that was likely to still happen later on. Quinn's thoughts were disrupted by Rachel's tuneful humming. "Somewhere over the rainbow." Quinn said, without needing to turn around.

"Yes, it's a very good song; it helps me calm down when I feel like hitting someone."  
>Quinn had never heard Rachel speak like this before, however it was rather amusing. "I'm sure you've hummed that plenty of times when I've been around then…" But before Quinn could finish her sentence, she felt a cold plume of water cascade across her back. Quinn whipped around to find Rachel standing there holding a now empty cup, trying to look as innocent as possible. As Rachel saw the expression on Quinn's face, she stopped looking so pleased with herself. Then suddenly, to her amazement, Quinn began to smile. "Aren't you mad?" Rachel stammered.<p>

"Don't look so worried, I kind of deserve it after I've paid people to slushie you, I've contemplated slushing you myself and I make you hum that hideous song whenever I annoy you."  
>"It's not hideous, and actually…" She blushed, "You don't make me hum, Finn makes me hum more than you do."<br>"Well, I'm glad. We could start a water fight," Quinn hinted.  
>"As much as I dislike Noah right now I don't think it would be appropriate to start throwing jugs of water around his very nice kitchen."<br>Quinn laughed. "You really do have a way with words."  
>Rachel smiled. A smile, that Quinn noticed, reached her eyes. Not many smiles of Rachel's were actually real. On plenty of occasions Quinn had noticed that Rachel's smiles were empty and didn't seem like they meant anything.<p>

"It's a reasonably warm evening, so our tops will dry soon; however we may have some explaining to do to the others," Quinn said as she beckoned Rachel to the door. "I think they're playing truth or dare, we might as well join in." Walking through Puck's house, Quinn felt a rush of gratitude, for the first time in probably forever, she had been nice to Rachel Berry, and she actually felt good about it. 'Being nice isn't that bad,' she thought to herself, 'Maybe I should try it more often.'

Walking through the house Rachel asked, "You really paid people to slushie me? I always thought 'Quinn Fabray' would have the guts to do it herself." Quinn chuckled, "That 'Quinn Fabray' you talk about isn't always the gutsy person you think she is." Rachel contemplated this for a second then the thought flew to the back of her mind.

Pushing past Sam who was standing in the door way, Rachel announced both the girls' presence. Santana looked up at Quinn a little concerned, but when Quinn smiled back, Santana's face changed and she knew that the blonde must be alright.  
>"It's Mercedes turn," Finn told the girls as they sat down on opposite couches. Quinn flounced down next to Brittany whilst Rachel sat down rigidly next to Finn. He tried to put his arm around his girlfriend but Rachel moved away. Quinn smiled to herself, 'She's finally standing up for herself,' she thought.<p>

"Truth or dare, Mercedes," Artie asked.  
>A sobering Mercedes announced that she wanted a truth. The glee clubbers turned to each other whispering about potential exploiting truths. After a few minutes of conversing Kurt piped up, "What actually happened between you when you and Sam were paired off last time?" Everybody cheered and Finn high fived his step brother.<br>"And if I don't answer, what is my forfeit?"  
>"Another 7 minutes with Sam," Puck jeered.<br>Everybody cheered even louder, apart from Sam who slapped Puck on the head.  
>Without even thinking Mercedes answered, "Definitely the truth then, but you all got to bare with me okay, I was drunk, well, <em>we<em> were drunk."

Everybody sat silently waiting for the diva to start spilling the beans. Mercedes swallowed. "Come on, we don't have all day," Santana yelled.  
>At this all the boys minus Sam and Puck started shouting, "Tell us. Tell us. Tell us." Sam got up and left the room, Quinn was tempted to follow him, but thought he was best left alone.<p>

"Well, I started singing to him, but not just any singing, a full on Celine Dion impression of 'My heart will go on.'" Everybody laughed but stopped abruptly as they saw the fire in Mercedes glare. "Anyway, then he started singing back, I thought he was being serious and all so I tried to kiss him." She blushed and looked at the floor. Kurt clapped his hands in glee screeching, "I knew it."  
>"Look don't get carried away you guys, but I pulled away," Sam explained. Everyone had been so excited to hear what had happened they'd forgotten Sam had even left. "Jerk," Puck said, "you were drunk you should have at least humoured her."<br>"Hey, I'm not like that man. I stopped kissing you because I didn't know what I felt, I was so drunk okay, but Mercedes," She looked up, "I wish I never stopped kissing you." Everybody's jaws dropped, but none more than Mercedes.

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><p><strong>Review? Hope you enjoyed it, I shall update soon.<strong>


	4. You're perfect

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or glee.**

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><p><strong><strong>

**Chapter 4  
><strong>

Mercedes mouth opened and closed like a goldfish. 'Was it a trick,' she thought? Yes, a definite trick, a very crude trick, but a trick none the less. Preparing herself for the worst, she began to think of every worst scenario in her head. 'Maybe I'm hallucinating; I have just drunk a lot. No wait! It's definitely how much he's drunk; he doesn't know what he's saying. Hang on, no, that can't be right, Sam's only had two beers, he can't be drunk. Only Kurt can get drunk off of two beers. To be honest, one beer and Kurt was out like a light.

Scared of the truth Mercedes ran from the room; the glee clubbers all still gawping at Sam. One good thing out of this situation however, was that Santana was completely distracted from Quinn's 'forgiving mood.'

"Go on, go after her then! No guys have a clue on how to treat a girl properly." Santana voiced clearly.

At this comment Finn tutted and muttered, "Actually, I think its girls who don't have a clue how to treat a guy." He winked at Puck who nodded.

Santana heard exactly what he'd said and this was the perfect opportunity for a fight.

"Come on then Finessa! Explain to me exactly what girls do wrong?"

Quinn grabbed Santana's hand to pull her back down but she snatched her hand out of Quinn's grip and clenched her fists ready for whatever Finn was about to throw at her.

"Well, where shall I start?" He started to list things on his fingers. "You take hours to get ready. You always complain. Nothing is ever good enough for you and…"

Santana interrupted Finn and took a step closer to him. Quinn looked into Santana's eyes acknowledging the fire and anger that erupted from them. Finn had no chance Quinn thought and judging by Finn's face, he knew it too.

"Maybe if guys knew what to say to girls, they wouldn't try so hard, they wouldn't complain and they may _actually _feel good enough for you!"

Finn had a defeated expression on his face and sank back into the coach knowing that there was no way in hell he was going to win a fight against Santana, especially in the drunk state he was in. He leaned over to the table and reached for another can of beer attempting to drown his sorrows.

"That's what I thought," Santana snapped turning around glaring at Rachel.

'What had Rachel done wrong?' Quinn wondered. 'For once Rachel hadn't done anything to provoke Santana, yet she'd still given her a look that could kill.'

Rachel, being used to Santana's death glares took no notice and said, "Come on whose truth or dare is it?"

Sam took one last look at the glee clubbers open mouths, shook his head and left the room as swiftly as he had entered it.

"Merc? Where are you? I wasn't joking you know." Sam said, now slightly worried that he'd upset Mercedes.

He poked his head through the kitchen door. Not in there. He ran upstairs and checked all of the bedrooms. Empty. 'She didn't leave did she?' he thought, now even more worried than before. 'No I didn't hear the door go.'

What was he to do now? He really liked her. Sam cast his mind back to when Finn had once asked him what he looked for in a girl. Remembering his exact answer he began saying it aloud hoping that wherever Mercedes was, that she'd hear it.

"You know, Finn asked me once what I look for in a girl," he started, slowly leaning his head against the wall feeling as if this was all hopeless. However he carried on, "A girl with humour. What's the point in liking someone who doesn't laugh when you take them to the cinema to see Captain America on their first date?" He smiled to himself. "Another thing I told him; someone who was happy to lose on the Xbox; I can't date a girl who is better than me can I? Because that would really set Finn off."

Just as he was about to continue he heard a faint laugh. Turning to this muffled yet cute giggle he realised that Mercedes must have locked herself in the bathroom. He continued to explain his story as he carefully walked to the door, not wanting Mercedes to know that he had found her hiding place.

"Someone who wasn't afraid of who they were or who they wanted to be. Someone who was proud of being different. Someone who didn't want big jewels to feel as if they meant something to their other half. Someone who was perfect just the way they are. You know, after I told Finn all of this, I looked up and he wasn't even listening anymore, but that's Finn for you I guess."

Another muffled laugh issued from through the solid oak door.

"When I was telling him all of this, I realised that I was talking about someone. I realised that I was talking about you. I hated Glee Club to start with until I realised you were in it. I'd look forward to it, it'd be the best part of my day and why? Because as soon as I walked through the door I saw your smile. Your incredible smile. The one thing about your smile is that it always reaches your eyes and I know this is probably sappy and stuff but I want you to believe me when I say; you're perfect. You are perfect to me Mercedes in your own special way. From the way you smile to the way you bitch at Santana for calling Rachel a smurf. It's all special to me because it's you that does it; no one else."

Sam waited for a minute, hoping that he'd explained enough for Mercedes to come out of the bathroom; for her to face him; for him to be able to take her in his arms and kiss her again. He wanted to rekindle the fireworks he'd felt when he kissed her for the first time in the bedroom opposite from where he was standing. Another few minutes passed, but to Sam, they felt like hours of heartbreak.

Then finally when he was about to give up all hope an idea popped into his head. He slid down the wall and put his face in his hands not wondering whether it was a good idea or not. 'To hell with it,' he thought, 'I have nothing to lose.'

"Erm, Merc, just listen to this. A minute ago I said you're perfect, so erm, here goes."

He cleared his throat and flush came over his cheeks although no one else could see him. It was now or never. He was ready. In a slow, quiet, soft voice he began to sing.

"_Oh her eyes, her eyes  
>Make the stars look like they're not shining<br>Her hair, her hair  
>Falls perfectly without her trying"<em>

Mercedes was sitting cross legged with her back flat against the bathroom door. A rush of emotions overwhelmed her. He felt the same as she did, every time she saw him, she smiled. Everything Sam had just said about Mercedes and her smile was because of him and he didn't even know. 

She's so beautiful  
>And I tell her every day<br>Yeah I know, I know  
>When I compliment her<br>She won't believe me  
>And its so, it's so<br>Sad to think she don't see what I see  
>But every time she asks me do I look okay<br>I say"

Mercedes unfastened the lock on the door and Sam jumped to his feet still huskily yet softly singing his heart out to Mercedes. As she opened the door, Sam looked her straight in the eyes and put his entire soul into the chorus of the song. He grabbed her hand and started to belt out,

_"When I see your face  
>There's not a thing that I would change<br>Cause you're amazing  
>Just the way you are"<em>

Taking a quick breath Sam was about to jump right into the next verse but he was stopped by an unknown warmth engulfing his lips. Mercedes lips were on his. They were connected once again. The fireworks that filled Sam before were nothing compared to the ones that he felt now. His stomach was twisting and turning; somersaulting in complete happiness. He'd done it; he told the girl he liked exactly what he thought of her and the world hadn't ended because of it. He didn't want the kiss to end but he knew it had to.

'One more thing,' Sam thought.

Sam ended their kiss and pulled Mercedes into a tight embrace, brought his lips so close to her ear that she could feel his hot and warm breath surge through her body leaving her feeling light headed and whispered "Cause you're amazing just the way you are Mercedes Jones."

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: I do not own the contents of the song.<strong>


	5. Spin the bottle

**Disclaimer: I do not own glee or any of the characters.**

**It's quite long, but I think it's worth it. Enjoy. (:  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter 5<br>**

"What the hell is in this?" Finn asked with a puzzled look.

Despite both Mercedes and Sam being no longer present; Santana had insisted that the game continue. It was Finn's third turn and reluctantly he was still picking dares. As stupid as Finn seemed he knew that everybody was hoping him to pick truth, so that they could all ask the one question he refused to tell anyone: Why date Quinn twice after she fully cheated on you but refused to even consider dating Rachel again in senior year? To be honest the only reason he didn't want to answer was because he didn't have a good enough reason; so the logic in Finn's head was take all the dares and forfeits he could before he left and then hopefully everybody would forget.

By now, he was on his seventh beer and Santana had just made a concoction of god knows what for him to drink as his dare. Finn began to think that Santana was trying to kill him and maybe she had poisoned it but his forfeit was worse than his dare. Strip to his underwear and give Brittany a lap dance. Although it sounds harmless he knew it would hurt Rachel and he knew Brittany would try and make something happen between them. Finn felt sorry for Artie; Brittany flirted with everybody right in front of him and there was nothing he could do but watch. Artie's smile would stay plastered across his face but you could easily tell that there was no emotion apart from 'hurt' behind it. He did everything he could for Brittany and tonight he'd made an extra effort to make himself look more attractive than usual.

He'd had his hair cut by about an inch and it was in a neat quiff leaning slightly towards the right of his forehead. His thick rimmed glasses perched on the end of nose as usual and his lips were slightly parted as if to look seductive. He was wearing a white and grey checked shirt that hung loosely off of his bony shoulders and three quarter length tight jeans. Beneath all of this he wore a pair of pure white vann's that just covered the tiny sports socks he was wearing. Very smart, Finn thought but being smart still isn't enough to keep Brittany in check.

Feeling incredibly sick and light headed Finn stretched out his hand and took the drink from Santana's; of whose knuckles had gone white from how tightly she was holding the glass. Finn drew the glass to his eyes and looked through the semi translucent liquid. The drink resembled a reddy purple like colour and if you were on hallucinogenics would have looked a lot like blackcurrant juice.

"Santana I know you don't like me but this won't kill me will it?" Finn asked with a rather worried expression on his face.

The glee clubbers chuckled. Quinn wouldn't put it past Santana either so she began to sympathise with Quinn.

"If she wanted to kill you she would have done it much more subtly and dragged out the pain as you came closer to your end; so no I think you'll be fine," Quinn replied.

Santana sat on the edge of the couch with her arms folded giving Finn the look of the devil. Her eyes were white with anger and everybody knew that if Finn refused this dare Santana would make his life hell more so than she already did. On the other side of the room Rachel's expression almost matched Finn's. She was leaning back into the couch looking somewhat rigid and frightened. As much as she was annoyed at Finn from earlier she still didn't want him to die. They still hadn't discussed their funeral plans she thought. Last time Rachel had mentioned them planning their funerals Finn had walked off so quickly he smacked into Miss Pilsbury whose pamphlets had fallen all over the floor.

'What is so wrong with being prepared Finn, we are all going to die one day.'

Those were the exact words Rachel had said to Finn and she still had no idea why he had walked off so quickly.

Rachel was so immersed in her thoughts that she hadn't even realised that Finn had drunk the liquid and had run off retching.

"And that is exactly why we call you a girl, _Finessa." _Santana made sure there was an emphasis on his girly nickname. "You can't even handle your drink; I only put 2 shots of vodka, lemon juice, orange juice, Bacardi Breezer, milk and a little bit of that yellowy white stuff sitting on Pucks windowsill into the drink. Be a man!"

Santana laughed; obviously finding the whole situation amusing. However Pucks face had practically hit the floor.

"Please tell me you didn't put that stuff on the windowsill in his drink?"

"Like one tiny drop, it won't kill him, will it?" Even Santana was a little worried now. What if she had killed Finn? What would she do?

"It's out of date cream Santana! It's been sitting there for about a week. I keep forgetting to get rid of it. Couldn't you smell it? Couldn't you tell that it might be a little bit off when you tried pouring a solid!"

Puck had made a very good point. Santana did try pouring it but it wouldn't pour, so instead she searched around for a teaspoon and put half a teaspoon of it into the drink. You idiot Santana, you killed Finn. But her thoughts were interrupted by the reappearance of Finn who had a green tinge to his face. He knew now that he should have picked truth as nothing could be as bad as how he now felt.

"I think I just puked up my last month's worth of food so I'm gonna go if that's okay."

Puck stood up and walked towards Finn.

"I'm sorry for making you drink that stuff it was um, out of date cream, it won't make you puke much longer though I promise."

"No it's cool, I'm a girl and everyone knows that so I'll just leave."

Finn bent down, grabbed his bag and walked to the front door; as he opened it Santana appeared behind him.

"I'm honestly sorry Finn I didn't realise."

"Look okay, its fine."

With a crestfallen look upon both Finn and Santana's faces, Finn left through the open door and was swallowed into the night. Santana closed the door behind Finn and tottered back to the rest of the glee clubbers.

The atmosphere was rather bleak now. Nearly everybody had sobered up and after the past incident no one was really in the party mood anymore. Music was still blaring out of Pucks various speakers and wherever Finn was now he could still probably hear a distant echo issuing from the house. Silence had fallen over the glee clubbers. Rachel and Tina were conversing in low undertones and Puck and Mike had begun discussing recent game releases.

Quinn beckoned a sullen faced Santana over and hugged her. The two of them sat down and began to talk just as Rachel stood up and coughed. Everybody sighed and turned their eyes towards her.

"Well, after that unfortunate incident that occurred between both Santana and Quinn it has come to my attention that the party is no longer a party; therefore I am proposing the idea that we either carry on truth or dare or start a whole new game."

There were a few murmurs of agreement and then out of the blue Kurt piped up.

"How about spin the bottle?"

"Yeah I agree with Kurt," Mercedes voiced.

Everybody turned to look at Mercedes who was sitting next to Sam holding his hand.

"Hey! What the…? When did you two appear?" Kurt asked completely oblivious to their last hours presence.

"About an hour ago when Santana was making that drink in the kitchen. You guys really should have watched her you know, maybe then Finn wouldn't have nearly ended up dead."

Santana frowned but didn't say anything as not to make the matter worse. Kurt had a gleeful expression upon his face and was about to ask what was going on between both Mercedes and Sam but Sam got there first.

He raised his and Mercedes now interwoven fingers and said, "We sorted stuff out and we're together."

Kurt screamed. "Oh my god this is so amazing, so you guys, you are like, and oh my god I'm speechless."

Sam came to Kurt's rescue again. "Yes, we are together, a couple, whatever you want to call it but we really want to make this work."

The glee clubbers cheered and Puck shouted, "Let's celebrate with more alcohol!"

Everybody cheered even louder.

After another hour of drinking Rachel looked at her watch. Five past one. The entire glee club had been drinking nonstop for over an hour and Rachel was starting to get a little concerned about how everyone was to get home.

"I don't mean to ruin everyone's party vibe but everybody minus a few of us is absolutely plastered."

"Speak for yourself," Sam shouted whilst dancing wildly with Mercedes.

"Samuel Evans, the only people who are not completely drunk are Quinn, who is just on the tipsy side, Santana who can handle her drink extremely well and I, so in case you haven't noticed none of us are in a fit state to drive," Rachel finished, blushing slightly at her outburst of anger.

Sam just shook his head and carried on dancing. Rachel hung her head to the floor and tried talking sense into Tina but her, like everybody else was having too much fun dancing and joking around. She flung herself onto the couch and buried her head under a cushion. The pounding in her head just wouldn't stop and the music wasn't helping. Maybe If I just lie here and try to sleep it will all be okay, Rachel reassured herself.

In between consciousness and dreaming Rachel felt a distant tap on her shoulder.

"Go away, I'm sleeping."

"I just thought you'd like a glass of cold water, it will help your head."

Rachel couldn't put a name to the voice that had just spoken to her. She tried to sit up but her head spun so much that she had to lie back down.

"It's okay I'll just leave it on the table."

Something very distant clicked in Rachel's head causing it to pound more, but then she realised, the voice she had just heard was Quinn's. No that couldn't be right, could it, Rachel thought. Just because they were on speaking terms earlier doesn't mean they were suddenly alright with each other.

Hauling her body to an upright position Rachel looked around. Everybody was up dancing or huddled in a little group talking so it couldn't have been Quinn. However, on turning her head a little to the right Rachel saw Quinn walking away. It was Quinn! Wait, why am I so happy about this? Rachel pondered for a few moments, trying to ignore the fast thump, thump, thump of the heart. I'm not even that drunk, tipsy maybe, but not drunk. That explains the headache though. Racking her brains Rachel tried to remember why her heart was beating so loudly.

Usually, someone giving her a glass of water made her question whether they were trying to drug her or not, but if Quinn gave her something to drink there was an inevitable chance of the drink being drugged, yet on this occasion Rachel began to feel privileged yet at the same time, uneasy? This still doesn't explain the increased heart rate, Rachel thought, suddenly panicking in case she was about to have a heart attack.

Trying to calm herself down Rachel began to think. The rush of adrenaline that pounded through her veins as Quinn spoke to her was probably just the shock of being woken. Yes, that was it Rachel thought, trying to ignore the sudden tight yet warm feeling forming in her stomach. Quinn Fabray was just being nice to you Rachel that is all, so don't freak out. But even saying this in Rachel's head made her question her own judgement.

"Oh screw you Quinn Fabray," Rachel muttered under her breath pushing all of her thoughts to the back of her mind.

As time passed one by one the glee clubbers began to crash on the various couches scattered around Puck's lounge. However, no one was yet asleep as everybody was still buzzing with sugar from the alcohol. Kurt's suggestion of spin the bottle now seemed like a very good idea so all the glee clubbers gathered around the table in the middle of Puck's lounge.

Kurt grabbed an empty vodka bottle and explained the rules.

"Right, the bottle will be spun and the first person it lands on will have their fate decided for them; if their fate involves another person the bottle will be spun again and that second person will be the unlucky victim. Everybody agree?"

Nods of approval from the glee clubbers prompted the first spin of the bottle. Everybody held their breath hoping that it would not be them who had to face the fate of the slowing up bottle.

Quinn's face had washed white as the bottle spun slower and slower in her direction, but then a rush of relief, the bottle had just missed her and landed on Brittany, who smiled.

"Confer with those on your left as to what Brittany's fate should be," Kurt announced.

Puck quickly turned to Sam and said, "She should so totally kiss someone," with a gleeful expression on his face.

Artie who had overheard shot Puck a meaningful look.

"Oh right, yeah, sorry mate, didn't mean it," Puck said apologetically patting Artie's shoulder.

Quinn, who was on Santana's left, had her gazed fixed on Rachel. Santana began to talk but Quinn was more immersed in other, more important matters. Quinn was sitting next to Brittany and Rachel was next to her. Brittany was trying to explain the importance of rainbows to a half attentive Brunette girl. Rachel did look stunning tonight but it wasn't that that caught Quinn's eye. It was Rachel's body language as Quinn had handed her the drink, it was as if Rachel didn't believe that Quinn was trying to be helpful towards her. Something about Rachel struck Quinn as very suspicious. It was as if Rachel was hiding something; something that she didn't want anyone to know.

Rachel looked up to notice Quinn staring at her, their eyes interlocked and for a second their gaze poured into each other's souls seeking untold emotions. However, as quickly as Rachel had looked up she tore away her gaze and looked straight to the floor.

"So do you agree with my rainbow theory?" Brittany asked.

"Yeah," Rachel stammered, "Flawless."

Brittany smiled and turned back to the rest of the people who were crowded around the table. Quinn felt her cheeks flush red so looked at the floor until it was gone. Why did Quinn feel like this? She wanted things to change, but she didn't want to get to know Rachel, did she? No, of course she didn't. Stop it Quinn, you've been drinking you don't know what you're talking about.

Looking back up she heard Puck say, "Brittany has to kiss someone."

"It took you all of twenty minutes to come up with that?" Kurt asked.

This struck Quinn as odd; there was no way she'd been staring, no, looking at Quinn for an entire twenty minutes was there? No she hadn't, she'd been talking to Santana that was right. Wait, what was Santana saying again? Something about Brittany would do anything I think.

Brittany giggled a little bit and said, "I've kissed like every guy in school even dolphin over there so isn't this all pointless?"

"No," Puck said, "Because you're going to kiss one of the girls."

Brittany's grin grew wider and wider, but some of the fellow glee clubbers faces fell. The majority of them had boyfriends and Quinn knew that this would piss of Santana no end.

"No Brittany isn't doing that," Santana growled.

"It's the rules, unless she wants a forfeit," Puck retorted.

"No, Santana its fine I don't mind kissing them, if I've kissed every guy in school I might as well start on the girls," Brittany said dreamily.

Artie's face showed signs of resent towards Puck but he knew it was just a game and wouldn't mean anything so he announced that he was fine with it, so everybody else should be.

"Come on, spin the bottle Kurt," several glee clubbers shouted.

"Alright, keep your wigs on!"

The bottle started to spin; everybody looked anxiously at the spinning emblem of fate. It started to slow.

It passed Tina, who sighed with relief as Mike kissed her forehead.

It passed Santana who murmured, "For fuck sake," but only Quinn heard.

It just managed to pass Quinn and Brittany and landed on Rachel. Rachel's face was white with horror as was Quinns.

Santana jumped to her feet, "There is no way Brittany can be allowed to kiss that dwarf!"

Quinn pulled on Santana's hand and she sat down again.

Brittany replied, "I always wondered what Rachel's lips would taste like, they look so warm and…"

Brittany was cut off by Rachel.

"If Brittany does not want to do this I am more than happy for her to skip her turn."

"It's the rules," Kurt said blandly, but deep down even he was excited to see the kiss.

"Look, it's my go okay and we're doing it," Brittany said sternly.

Rachel complied and said, "Fine, but no longer than a 5 second kiss. No tongues. No…"

But Rachel was cut off by Brittany's lips pressed firmly against her own. For a split second Rachel wished it was Quinn, but she quickly pushed that thought to the back of her mind and kissed Brittany back. Rachel could hear Sam and Puck wolf whistling somewhere behind her, cheering and whooping. The kiss lasted just over five seconds but only because Rachel had pulled away; if Rachel hadn't they probably would have still been kissing now.

"You have really soft lips Rach, if Finn doesn't satisfy you enough, you know where to find me," Brittany said winking and walking back to Artie placing a chaste kiss on his lips.

"The bottle is spinning again," Kurt announced.

Quinn however, was no longer paying attention. She was twiddling her thumbs trying not to look up because tears were close to escaping her eyes. The kiss didn't hurt Quinn, she was just upset that she could kiss Brittany but not accept a glass of water from herself. That's all it is Quinn, she told herself, you're hurt because Rach, I mean Rachel Berry is a cold hearted cow. Even thinking this about Rachel made Quinn wince but Quinn was determined to make sure that Rachel meant nothing to her anymore. She looked up.

Rachel was staring at her watch. Two am. She didn't feel anything towards Brittany during the kiss, she wished she had been kissing someone else, but Rachel wasn't even sure that it was Finn that she wanted to kiss anymore. Rachel glanced at Quinn who seemed a little upset, but pushed the thought aside and jeered with everyone else as the bottle began to slow again.

However, she stopped jeering as soon as she realised that the bottle had landed on none other than Quinn.

"Another kiss is in order I think!" Puck shouted with much approval from everyone else.

Rachel's heart sank. 

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><p><strong>Comment or reviews please ?<strong>


	6. Feelings

**Chapter 6**

Quinn wasn't fully aware of what was going on until she felt a heavy hand fall across her back slapping it so hard she was nearly winded. She turned to look at who the culprit was; however, the room seemed so full that it could have been any number of people. No one was sitting down anymore they'd all crowded up one and left Rachel at the other. If Rachel is allowed to kiss someone whilst having a boyfriend then I'm definitely allowed to kiss someone, she thought, trying to ignore the Christian voice in her head telling her that it was a sin. Quinn responded to her thoughts by saying that at least there was no chance in getting pregnant this time.

Who was she going to have to kiss? There is only one person she would be even slightly interested in kissing but the chances of the bottle neck pointing to that one person in a crowd of ten people (minus herself) was almost remote. Glancing up to the other side of the table Quinn saw an uneasy Rachel twiddling her fingers together and continuously checking the time on her watch. It was 2:30 to be precise and a lot of the Glee clubbers seemed to be getting tired despite their fruitless efforts to keep on drinking alcohol.

"I think I speak on behalf of everyone that it's late and we should all think of heading home," Kurt said wisely.

Everybody moaned and began to rise from the table, looking around for their scattered belongings in various areas of Puck's house. Quinn wondered around aimlessly looking for items she knew she hadn't lost. She felt a bit out of place; it was her turn and she hadn't even had the chance to potentially kiss someone. The last person she had kissed was Sam and she had remembered that it felt like she was drowning in between his 'trouty' (as Santana would call them) like lips. The person she had kissed before that was Finn. Finn hadn't been a bad kisser but due to Quinn's lack of kissing experience she hadn't got anybody to really compare him to. Quinn's encounter with Puck didn't count as anything as all emotions were completely detached from the situation. Thinking back now Quinn couldn't believe how stupid she had been to trust Puck when they'd had sex. What kind of contraception is "trust me" anyway?

Quinn walked back towards the now almost empty lounge, minus a few glee clubbers sprawled on the various Couch's.

"What's going on? We're meant to be going aren't we?" Quinn asked as she picked up her bag and coat.

Mike returned the question with a half hearted, sleepy answer, "Puck says those who are driving can stay because he doesn't want any car accidents held against him."

"Oh, I suppose I better find Santana then."

"In the kitchen cornered by Santana," Mike said just before he completely zonked out.

This last piece of information took Quinn completely by surprise. Santana was doing what Quinn wondered. Dropping her stuff Quinn ran to the kitchen to see Rachel with her back flat against the wall cowering below a taller figure. Rachel saw Quinn as soon as she walked in and was about to speak but Quinn brought her fingers to her lips motioning her to stay silent.

Santana's figure almost completely shrouded the smaller girl who stood rigid in front of her. She couldn't have been more in Rachel's face if she had tried, Quinn thought.

"Don't you dare ever go near Brittany again, do you hear me Berry?" Santana spat.

Although Quinn couldn't see Santana's face, she could imagine what it looked like. Her eyes would be raw with envy and she'd look down at you as she spoke.

"Yes," Rachel replied timidly, not daring to look the Latina in the eyes.

"Good, because I swear to God if you do, I'll have your stupid animal sweaters for breakfast."

Rachel blinked and a single tear escaped her left eye and this is what made Quinn snap.

"Leaver her San, it was a dare, and for those who are still awake, my dare is still going ahead, so get out and leave her okay."

Santana had turned to face Quinn looking taken aback. She was still completely unsure why Quinn was defending Rachel but she knew not to cross Quinn in a situation like this. Quinn's lips were pursed and her eyes were wide with fury. Looking Quinn up and down she realised that the girl's hands were on her hips and she looked incredibly defensive. Deciding it was too late to fight, Santana turned back to Rachel. What happened next made Rachel's tears fall freely.

Santana had morphed her right hand into the shape of a gun with her index finger and middle finger; she'd then brought it to hover a centimetre away from Rachel's forehead, causing Rachel to go cross eyed.

Santana then spoke while her hand continued to hover, "Touch her again," Santana took a long pause, "and BANG," she flicked her thumb as if it was a trigger.

Santana looked Rachel in the eyes throughout the entire situation whilst Quinn was standing on the balls of her feet ready to pounce. She had no idea why she suddenly felt defensive towards Rachel because she'd never felt defensive towards anyone in her life, let alone the person whose life she made a living hell for last three years.

Santana stopped making a gun shape with her hand and instead balled it into a fist.

"Out. Now!" Quinn shouted.

Santana turned and walked calmly out of the room, her eyes not focusing on anyone. Rachel straightened up and wiped her tears away with the back of her hand leaving two neat black smudges protruding to the right of her face.

Quinn turned, about to follow Santana, but she stopped and said, "You smudged your mascara," then left.

A pang of both guilt and dread overcame Quinn. She felt dread because at some point in the near future she was going to have to face a seething Santana but at the moment she felt guilty for not saying more to the crying and obviously broken diva in the kitchen. Finn had gone home which meant there was no one to defend her. Deep down Quinn felt as if she was supposed to defend her, but she still couldn't put her finger on why. As much as she'd hated Rachel at school she also kind of envied her. Whatever relationship Rachel was in at the time, stayed stable. She had an amazing singing voice; and her looks, well she was just stunning, Quinn thought.

"Oh god no," Quinn muttered to herself. She hadn't got feel…feelin…Quinn couldn't even bring herself to think of the word. No! Of course she hadn't got _that_ for Rachel. But if I haven't got _that_ for her then why can't I even say the word she thought. You're just being stupid Quinn, you don't _like_ Rachel. But the more and more Quinn began to think about it, the more and more it seemed to make sense. It doesn't make sense and it _can't _make sense, Quinn convinced herself. You've dated Sam, Finn, Puck; you don't think anything of Rachel, but even saying this to herself Quinn had felt unconvinced.

Dazed, Quinn looked around. Her feelings had fogged up her brain so much she had no idea how she'd even manoeuvred her body into the lounge and onto a couch without practically sitting on Sam.

"You nearly sat on me," Sam joked.

Not fully paying attention Quinn answered with a half hearted, "Sorry."

"Hey, are you okay? You seem out of it?" Sam queried, obviously a little concerned.

"No, I'm fine. Just, yeah, nothing."

"Okay, but if you want to talk…"

Quinn snapped. "If I wanted to talk you'd be the last person I'd go to."

Bitchy Quinn was back.

Sam mumbled, "Sorry, I was just…"

"Just what? Go on spit it out? You were just what Evans?"

"Nothing, you just don't seem…" he trailed off.

"I don't seem what?" Quinn was really agitated now, and other glee clubbers who were half asleep were now fully awake and watching her.

"I thought, well, you don't seem okay," Sam replied shyly.

"Well don't think! Because you're wrong okay, I'm fine."

"Okay," Sam snapped back, "I was only…"

"Well don't," Quinn replied, a little more calmly than before.

Sam rose from next to Quinn and headed for the open lounge door. The rest of the glee clubbers had averted their eyes from Quinn as not to get snapped at but Santana was still staring Quinn right in the face. The Latina could see the welled up tears in Quinn's eyes but showed no signs of caring. A few more seconds of staring and then Santana followed Sam's direction out of the room.

On one couch Mike and Tina were curled up next to each other. Tina was stroking Mikes face as Mike fell into a deeper and deeper sleep. On the couch opposite to wear Quinn was sitting, Kurt and Puck were saying goodbye to Artie who had just announced his departure. As Artie left the room, a tear stained Rachel walked in.

"Hey girl, what's up?" Mercedes asked.

"Nothing, I'm fine," she lied, "I'm really enjoying the party."

Rachel actually felt lonely. Lonely because Finn wasn't there to protect her when she needed him the most, although it wasn't his fault, he could have stuck up for himself and not drank the stupid drink, but oh well, it was all pointless now. Mercedes seemed to believe Rachel's appalling effort at persuading her that she's fine because she just smiled back at the diva and turned to talk to Kurt.

"Are you staying Kurt?"

"Honey, I'm pretty much plastered, if I tried to stand up I think my head would explode so yes, I'm staying."

"Good, I'll stay to then. Has anyone seen Sam?"

Everybody turned on Quinn. Mercedes, who wasn't in the room at the time of the argument looked puzzled.

"Someone gonna tell me what's going on or am I gonna have to force it out of you?"

A drunken Brittany dreamily said, "Quinn offered Sam sex but got upset when he declined."

Now it was Brittany's turn to be rounded on.

"Okay, just kidding, they argued."

"About what," Mercedes demanded.

"About ducks I think."

Mercedes shook her head and left the room looking for Sam. Rachel had sat herself down awkwardly next to Quinn. They both pretended that they hadn't noticed they were sat next to each other, when truthfully; they were both fully aware of each other's presence. Rachel had a glass of water in her hand and went to put it on the table, but at the same time Quinn reached for her bag. Their hands brushed and they both flew away from each other incredibly quickly making excuses for their sudden actions.

Rummaging around in her bag, Quinn found her phone with one unread text and a voicemail on it. A voicemail from her mother and a text from Santana.

Her mother's voicemail just said, "_I'll be late back tonight so feel free to sleep at whomever's house just don't get pregnant okay honey, use protection. Love you, bye."_

Shaking her head at the voicemail, Santana opened the text.

"Puck's room. Now. No excuses."

Wondering what on earth this could all be about; Quinn stood up, said that she'd be back in a minute and wandered up Puck's dimly lit stares to his bedroom. The bedroom door was ajar and Quinn approached it with caution, as if Santana was about to jump out from behind it. She pushed the door open with her foot, not moving forward until the door was fully open. The door opened with a creak and when no one jumped on her, she walked through it. Quinn had just about managed to get one foot through the door when she felt a force push her straight into the wall of Puck's room.

Quinn screwed her eyes up in pain as her head had collided with the wall. Feeling dazed Quinn tried to get her breath back. Opening her eyes Quinn could see an unfocussed figure standing in front of her.

"Santana?" She whispered.

"Well of course, I sent you the text."

"What? Why? Wow, my head hurts."

Quinn's eyes slowly came into focus and she saw Santana standing with her arms folded, she was in a very defensive stance. Before Quinn could say anything, Santana had beaten her to it.

"Look, _Quinn_, I don't know what's going on between you and man hands but I don't like it."

"What?"

"You and Rachel being all _friendly_ it's just not you Quinn."

Quinn was adamant that she had no feelings for Rachel but still she tried to defend her.

"I wasn't being friendly; you were just being a bitch!"

"We're both bitches' Quinn so drop the pretend act of you caring for Rachel and go back to who you were; the Quinn that walked down the hall's at school and had the crowd's part like she was royalty or something. That is the only Quinn that I know," Santana finished.

Quinn sighed, "Look I'm sick of being a bitch Santana, I'm sick of it."

Santana responded, "The Quinn I know wouldn't get sick of being a bitch."

She quickly walked to the door not looking at Quinn and just as she left, she slammed it.

Quinn felt abandoned. Tears poured freely down her face, blemishing her pale creamy complexion. Rachel wouldn't look at her. It just sounded like she'd just lost Santana and she'd blown a gasket at Sam. Her parents were divorced and she rarely saw her dad anymore. Her mum does anything in her power to make Quinn happy. I don't deserve any of them, she thought to herself as she slid her back down the wall and sank onto the floor. She brought her knees to her chest, hugging herself, making herself feel wanted and trying to forget everything.

But in reality Quinn was alone once more.


	7. A darkened figure

**Disclaimer: I do not own glee or any of the characters. This is the chapter you've probably been waiting for and it doesn't happen quite as you expect it to but enjoy (:  
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><p><strong><span>Chapter 7<span>**

Something brushed against her face; something soft; something tender; but it stopped almost as soon as it started. As Quinn began to stir the brushing started again; warm and soft against her skin, but soon she felt nothing, she was completely asleep, in a dream world where everything was how Quinn wanted it to be.

Perfect.

Quinn woke with a pounding sensation in her head as if someone had played whack-a-mole with it. She reached to touch the part of her head that had smacked against the wall.

"Ow," Quinn whispered in a rather hurt tone.

There was a rather large lump, but the lump felt cold. Quinn fumbled around for her phone in her pocket and checked the time. 5:30. Straining her ears, she tried to tell if anyone downstairs was still awake but they weren't. Why was the lump on her head cold, she wondered? Squinting around Quinn's eyes quickly adapted to the dark. Looking around the pitch black room Quinn could see a lump like shadow on the floor; it was the only thing in the room that resembled a shadow because a fleck of light devoured the gap in the lightly coloured curtains. Wait. The curtains weren't drawn when I came in here. Quinn looked puzzled.

Pulling herself up off of the floor, Quinn felt her head start to pound again. Walking carefully over to the lump on the floor, she thought at first it was a pillow, but on closer look it was a bag of frozen peas.

"Okay, this is weird," Quinn voiced anxiously.

Scared that someone was hiding in the room Quinn stepped very nimbly yet quickly to the closest wall and flattened her back against it.

"Anyone there? This isn't funny guys."

Silence.

If anyone was there she'd hear creaking on the floor boards surely. Realisation hit Quinn; she moved her hand to the patch on her head again. Cold. The frozen pea's Quinn thought; someone was holding them on my head. No one knew I was up here though, unless it was Santana but she didn't seem to care how much pain she'd put me in. She said earlier we were like sisters, so maybe it was her. Yes, it was definitely Santana she must have drawn the curtains as well.

Then suddenly a long loud creak echoed around the room. Quinn whipped around.

"Who's there? This isn't funny anymore!"

Still no answer.

Edging closer and closer to the door Quinn was truthfully scared of who she'd find. She poked her head out of the door, it was even darker outside of Puck's room, and that's when Quinn saw it, a dark figure almost as if it was gliding down the stairs, completely noiselessly. The figure headed towards the kitchen. Quinn's heart began beating quicker and quicker. Was Puck being burgled she thought? Maybe I should shout or scream or something. No, I can't do that, it wouldn't be fair on those who are going to have awful hangovers in the morning, they'll need as much sleep as they can get.

Mustering up some courage Quinn tiptoed to the top of the stairs, not wanting to disturb the figure that, by now was probably in the kitchen. Everything seemed much scarier when Quinn did it on her own; walking down these stairs; having a baby live inside her for nine months; watching her parents' divorce without anyone at school knowing. It was as if she didn't want sympathy; it's as if as soon as everybody knew who the real Quinn was they'd treat her like everyone else at Lima; like a loser. But Quinn had ambitions and dreams, she didn't want to be seen as everybody else because that would destroy the motivation she'd been putting together for the majority of her life.

Quinn felt a draft brush against her face as she neared the last few stairs. Wait, something brushed against me in my sleep, it can't have been the wind though, she thought, the window wasn't open. Or was it? Quinn couldn't remember and she didn't want to risk going upstairs and then on her return realise that the figure had gone.

In mid step Quinn stopped and fell into deep concentration. Thinking back to the brushing on her face, she'd remembered having a dream. She didn't remember it vividly but she remembered the main jist of it. Quinn had relived that entire day in her dream but instead of Rachel and Brittany kissing, Rachel and herself had been about to kiss. However they weren't with everyone else, because they'd been playing seven minutes in heaven, and right before they had kissed Rachel had stroked her face; but that's when she woke up with her pounding head. Quinn mentally kicked herself for not letting the dream carry on. She couldn't go on denying it anymore; she definitely felt something for Rachel, even if she didn't quite know what it was yet.

Snapping herself out of her un-Christian like thoughts Quinn continued to walk towards the kitchen. She paused in the kitchen doorway; and stared at the figure that was leaning over the sink. They were quite short, with flowing long hair that reached half way down their back.

"Rachel?" Quinn breathed quietly.

The silhouette didn't need to turn around for Quinn to know that it was Rachel who was leaning over the sink and holding a glass in her right hand. Rachel's voice echoed around the dark kitchen and although Rachel didn't answer Quinn's question, she was more than certain that she heard Quinn call her name.

"Santana told everyone you were upstairs and to leave you because you were sleeping. I had to wait to come and see you because Santana kept watching me. Then she said that you'd had a falling out so you wanted to be alone."

Rachel had tried to come and see me, Quinn thought, she didn't hate me. A rush of relief flooded through Quinn's body and she began to relax.

As if Rachel was reading her mind she said, "I don't hate you you know, I envy you."

Quinn let out an abrupt laugh. At this Rachel turned to face Quinn. She noticed that the moonlight on Rachel's face reflected in her normally chocolate coloured eyes.

"Why laugh at something so serious?"

"I wasn't laughing at you, I was laughing at the fact I envy you so much, everything you have and everything you had during high school. In a way I wanted to be you. Perfect family. Perfect boyfriend. Perfect looks. Perfect everything."

Quinn was convinced that even in the darkness she noticed Rachel blush as the last part of her sentence.

Quinn continued.

"I had to change my name, my appearance, my life and all for what? To be a bitch at school because I was petrified people would realise who I used to be. I live my life scared Rach."

This was the first time that Quinn had ever called Rachel 'Rach.' It was usually smurf or man hands or more often than not RuPaul. Quinn winced at the pathetic nicknames she'd spent hours conjuring up during her high school years.

Rachel acted as if she didn't hear anything Quinn had just said, which in one way hurt Quinn but in another didn't faze her so much.

"I've seen how you look at me Quinn. I see you in the corner of my eye, every time you think I'm not looking. I am looking you know, I look back; I don't understand why though Quinn. Tell me."

The whole time Rachel said this she looked Quinn straight in the eyes with a piercing stare. Quinn had never heard Rachel talk so fluently in such short sentences. However, Quinn still stood motionless; her once relaxed stance was now rigid again. What was she supposed to say, she hadn't got a clue how she felt either.

"I don't know, truthfully I don't know."

Once again Rachel pretended like she didn't hear.

"It was me you know, the frozen peas, drawing the curtains and sitting with you until you fell asleep."

Quinn was shocked. She raised a hand to her face and touched the spot that Rachel had stroked and felt a pang of emotions; what emotions she hadn't got a clue, but there was definitely something there.

"Thank-you," Quinn said moving closer to Rachel.

Rachel didn't move.

"Thank-you for what? Not hurting you? Not putting you down when you already feel like you can't sink any lower in life. Not laughing at you or taking the piss out of you?"

Tears filled both Rachel's and Quinn's eyes. Quinn felt like she'd been punched in the gut. No one had ever dared stand up to her to tell her what it felt like when they'd been slushied or been on the receiving end on one of Quinn's hurtful, sarcastic comments. But now, Quinn knew exactly what that felt like and if someone had come upstairs And shouted at her straight after Santana had pushed her against the wall Quinn probably would have broken down. She could not believe what she put Rachel through and she had no idea how to even begin to make it up to her.

"I'm so sorry Rach, I had no idea."

"You wouldn't would you, but it's not your fault."

Quinn frowned.

"Hey that's not fair, it is my fault and I take the full blame for everything okay, I'm sorry."

Quinn's face was about fifty centimetres away from Rachel's. She stretched out her arm and squeezed Rachel's shoulder. She expected Rachel to flinch, but instead she felt Rachel's arm relax and Quinn began to feel that familiar warm feeling form in the pit of her stomach again. This time it was Rachel's turn to move; she stretched out her right hand and stroked Quinn's face.

"You were dreaming when I was stroking your face, you said my name."

Quinn was completely oblivious to the fact she even talked in her sleep let alone said other people's names.

"I'm sorry," Quinn began but got cut off by Rachel's index finger pushing lightly against her lips.

Quinn's stomach felt as if it was doing star jumps. The tightening warm feeling in the pit of her stomach began to tingle with excitement. The thrill of Rachel touching her was enough to radiate the entire world with happiness and smiles. Without realising Quinn had smiled and looking into Rachel's dreamy eyes, she'd smiled back.

"It's in the past now Quinn so forget it and leave it there okay."

Rachel removed her finger from Quinn's lips and began stroking the side of her face again. She moved in closer and closer until Rachel's lips were just a centimetre from Quinn's.

"You're beautiful Quinn and that why I envied you, you were beautiful at everything you did."

The tightening cocoons in Quinn's stomach had now erupted into butterflies. Was she about to kiss Rachel? Her mind turned to mush just at the thought of it, but Quinn was not prepared for what was about to happen.

Rachel parted her lips slightly and leaned into kiss Quinn but stopped. Their lips brushed against each other's bur Rachel applied no pressure; Quinn was being driven crazy by her emotions and tried to push into the kiss but Rachel still stroking her face was distracting her. Just as Quinn had composed herself enough to fully kiss Rachel; Rachel pulled away, then leaned in and kissed Quinn's cheek ever so tenderly. Quinn's emotions roared inside of her writhing to get the attention they so desperately wanted. One kiss was all Quinn had wanted, one kiss and Quinn had got it; not entirely the way she'd have liked it but she got it.

As Rachel's lips had parted from Quinn's cheeks, she whispered, "Goodnight."

Quinn closed her eyes, when she opened them Rachel was gone. Quinn whipped around just in time to see Rachel leaving through the door,

"Rach," she called.

There were so many things Quinn wanted to ask and say but Rachel just stood in the door way as if waiting for Quinn to carry on, but when she didn't Rachel carried on walking.

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><p><strong>Reviews and comments please?<strong>


	8. I swear I'll kiss you

**Chapter 8**

It took between the hours of 8 and 10 to get the entire of the remaining glee clubbers up. A few had hangovers but the majority of the group were fine, however those who did didn't have a hangover nearly as bad as Kurt's. He couldn't walk straight still and anything he ate he couldn't keep down for longer than ten minutes. After a while Kurt left with Mercedes who was helping the very hung over boy stagger home. By midday everybody minus Rachel and Quinn had left; so they were left with the horrible job of cleaning up along with Puck. Before Santana had left she mumbled a hurried apology to Quinn but still demanded to know what was fully going on between herself and 'man hands,' in Santana's exact words.

Quinn, Puck and Rachel picked up empty bottles and cans throwing them in black trash bags in complete silence. An entire hour had passed before Puck broke the silence.

"What is up with you two? You're usually at each other's throats now you won't even talk; it's worrying me."

Silence.

"Rachel you never stop talking and I always longed for the day that you'd stop," Rachel frowned, "But now that you have, I'm really creeped out by it, it's just not natural."

Quinn had been frowning at Puck's words of wisdom until the very last thing he said and she smiled to herself. Puck had a point, she thought, Rachel was never quiet, she talked nonstop, all people wanted was for her to breathe, but instead she'd stopped altogether. You should be careful what you wish for. Quinn longed for the day that Rachel would shut up, but now that she had Quinn found it eerie. There was no chance for Quinn to mock what she said not that she wanted to of course, but the opportunity wasn't even there anymore.

Rachel bent down to pick up a half full beer can and downed the rest of it before crushing it under her grip and throwing it in the black bag positioned in front of her.

Puck and Quinn stopped and stared.

"Sweet cheeks what's up? You didn't drink at all last night, now you're drinking other peoples left over's, talk to the puckster."

Rachel pretended to ignore what Puck had said and carried on picking up the last few cans. Every time she picked up a can she'd shake it and even if there were only dregs left, she'd tip her head right back and drain the remaining liquid. Quinn started to worry and she wondered if it was last that had started her drinking the left over alcohol.

Puck threw down his bag as he picked up the last visible bottle.

"Right, Rachel if you don't start talking I'm going to kiss you."

Quinn laughed but at the same time felt a rush of protection wash over her. Rachel however, frowned and threw her bag down to and faced Puck, but instead of replying to his statement she asked, "Do you have any more alcohol?"

"Okay, that's it you asked for it. Quinn I'll need your help, grab Rachel so I can kiss her."

Rachel looked mortified; she didn't think he was actually being serious. She looked for a way out. They were all in the lounge and there was two ways out. A door that lead to the conservatory and then the garden, which ultimately was a dead end or the door that lead into the hall. Quinn was sitting on the edge of the couch next to one door way and puck was lying across the couch opposite Quinn.

"There's no way out Berry, you either take out me or take out Quinn."

Rachel didn't want another confusing with encounter with Quinn but on the other hand she didn't want Noah's lips anywhere near her again. Before Rachel could make a decision Puck had jumped off of the couch, vaulted the table and lunged himself at Rachel. Rachel managed to jump out of the way just in time causing Puck to land with his head in Quinn's lap. Both Quinn and Rachel blushed but Puck lifted his head and said, "Score!"

Quinn pushed Puck off who stood up looking defeated.

"This isn't over Berry, you still haven't spoken."

Rachel still continued to stay silent much to Quinn's concern. As Puck's head landed in Quinn's lap Quinn was convinced that she saw Rachel's hands clench into tight fists, but when she looked towards the Brunette again her hands were perfectly stationed in her pockets.

"Look babe, it's just a kiss," said Puck advancing on Rachel, who this time didn't move.

This will definitely make Quinn jealous Rachel thought. But just as the thought was voiced in her head Rachel wondered once again why she wanted to make Quinn jealous. She had Finn? He protected her and loved her and she loved him back, so why was the image of nearly kissing Quinn still wafting around her head. She tried pushing the thoughts to the back off her head but had no such luck; so to solve the problem she talk a step towards Puck and kissed him fully on the lips.

Puck, who was taken completely by surprise jumped away.

"Hey, what are you doing? Finn will kill me babe."

"I know, but what Finn doesn't know won't hurt him."

"You're not telling me something and I just want to know what it is, I was only joking about the kiss. You are quite hot though," he replied whilst winking wryly at her.

As soon as Rachel's lips had made contact with Puck's Quinn felt something crush inside of her. Suddenly Quinn struggled to breathe; it was as if her lungs had stopped functioning, as if they'd forgotten how to take in air. She didn't know why she felt like this, but she knew that it was a wakeup call. It was a wakeup call to how she really felt about Rachel. She hadn't a clue what Rachel meant to her but she was definitely more than a friend.

Quinn directed her gaze to the floor and said, "I'll go check for empty cans upstairs." She hurried out of the room as quickly as she could without making it too obvious that the last few minutes had made her feel incredibly awkward.

Puck and Rachel hadn't really noticed Quinn's loss of presence until they heard a ringtone of a phone going off. They'd turned to look to see if it was Quinn's but she'd already gone.

"Where did she go?" Puck asked curiously.

At first Rachel didn't answer, hoping that she'd gone home and they could forget all about the night before but something deep down within Rachel knew that the longer this was left, the harder it would be to talk about.

"Check downstairs and I'll check upstairs."

"She speaks!" Puck said teasingly.

Rachel smiled and punched him lightly on her way out of the room. As she walked up the stairs Rachel began to feel uneasy, as if someone was slowly sucking the air from her surroundings. Reaching the top of the stairs Rachel was counting to ten to make sure her breaths evened themselves out properly. Before even trying to look for Quinn, Rachel had found her.

She was curled up in the exact same place as she had been the night before, hugging her knees into herself and her eyes closed. Rachel noticed that she didn't look relaxed; her face was contorted as if she was in pain. As Rachel got closer she saw fresh tears on Quinn's cheek, slowly rolling down her face, curving closer towards her chin.

Rachel put a hand out to wipe the tears away but stopped mid action. Her mind was filled with so much crap she had no idea what she was doing anymore. This is the former head cheer leader clearly upset curled up in a ball in front of me, she thought, I should be supportive; but then all the memories came flooding back of how Quinn had bullied her reducing her to tears and to skip lessons. We nearly kissed last night; and I moved to her. You were drunk though, you hadn't got a clue what you were doing, yes that was it. Just as Rachel went to move her hand away Quinn's eyes opened, fresh tears ready to pour from them, but despite the tears, her eyes seemed to smile as if welcoming the presence of Rachel.

Before Rachel could stop herself, she said, "I can't do this, I'm sorry."

And she ran from the room.


	9. Hold tight

**Disclaimer: I do not own glee or any of the characters.**

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><p><strong><span>Chapter 9<span>**

"Rachel!" Quinn shouted.

She jumped up and ran down the stairs after her but it was too late, Rachel was already half way down the street. Tears filled Quinn's eyes for the thousandth time in the space of roughly two days. Why she had been so stupid into believing that she felt something too, she thought to herself. Puck who had heard Quinn's shouting came bounding up behind her and said, "What did you do this time?" with a wry grin on his face.

For Quinn, this was the last straw, she turned to face Puck looked into his eyes and burst out crying. Puck who was completely oblivious to the entire situation just put his arms around her and started soothingly rubbing her back. Quinn was holding onto Puck for dear life. Both of her arms were wrapped around his torso, her finger nails pulling and clutching onto the thin cotton material of his now not so white vest top.

After a few minutes or so Puck said, "Hold tight."

Quinn, who had no clue what was going on was suddenly lifted to her feet by an unearthly force. Puck had picked her up in his arms and carried her up to his bedroom. As they got there Puck carefully lowered Quinn's body onto his bed, pulled up a chair and started to stroke her face. When the tears finally subsided Quinn wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, leaving a trail of black mascara behind. Once she could finally see things clearly again and not just blurry shapes and outlines, Quinn saw Puck sitting on a leather chair directly next to the bed. She never noticed this chair before, but then she had had her head smacked against a wall so the last thing Quinn was contemplating was the variety of furniture Puck could fit in his bedroom.

She tried to turn away before Puck realised she'd stopped crying but it was too late for that, he'd noticed and jumped on the bed next to her. Quinn rolled over and snuggled her head into Puck's chest once again gripping it like it was a lifeline. Puck wrapped his arms around the blonde bringing her into a tight embrace; the blonde did her best to stem the fresh tears, this time successfully. She had always had a soft spot for Puck; through everything, the pregnancy, her arguments with Santana, even when he was arrested he tried to be there for her in any way he could.

Puck started to stroke Quinn's hair and she felt relaxed, at ease with him.

"So are you going to tell me what's going on now or am I going to have to kiss you too," he teased.

Quinn smiled. The entire of the glee club used to believe that Puck wasn't trustworthy yet when anyone had a problem Puck would be the first they'd go to.

"I think if I kiss you Rachel may get pissy though."

Quinn shot Puck a look of death, just as Puck pulled an apologetic face. Not lifting her head up to talk Quinn began to spill the beans on Rachel and hers entire situation.

"I never hated her, I just was jealous of her and if I made her life hell then people would look more to me and admire my popularity yet it seemed to affect her less and less. Then I think I came to care for her, last night Santana smacked my head against the wall and…"

Puck interrupted, "Santana did what!"

"Look it's nothing, she just…"

"No Quinn that is something, I know you've been bitchy before but that doesn't give Santana the right to push you around. You guys are friends."

"We are, well, at least I thought we were. Anyway before some doofus interrupted me," she smiled up at Puck jokingly, "I was telling you how Santana smacked my head against the wall and said she didn't like me not being a bitch to Rachel and didn't believe that there was more than one side to me."

"Hey, wait Santana thinks there's two sides to you?" Puck jeered in a soft manner.

"You'll regret that Puckerman, you interrupted my story twice now _and _insulted me."

"Yes Queen Quinn, hail Queen Quinn."

Quinn sat up and looked around for the nearest pillow, lunged for it and then smacked Puck in the face with it. Puck laughed and tried to get Quinn back but she jumped off of the bed and out of reach.

"See, this is the you that we all know and miss."

"What, we? Who's we?"

"Oh before Finn drunk that stupid drink he said you didn't seem okay and would I keep an eye on you."

This didn't mean all that much to Quinn but it was nice to think that Finn still cared about her despite their past history. Quinn then carried on the rest of the story explaining how Rachel had put a bag of frozen pea's on the lump on her head and she'd sat there stroking her face. She obviously missed out the sleep talking bit because she didn't want Puck making jokes about her being a stalker for the next however many years of her life.

"And then we were in the kitchen and she um, stroked my face," Quinn started to blush but Puck gave an encouraging smile which gave her the will power to carry on, "Our lips kind of brushed against each other, I didn't know what was going on, then Rachel moved and kissed my cheek and said goodnight, then she was gone."

Puck's mouth was open and Quinn was pretty sure there was a little bit of drool slowly making its way to his chin.

"You're meant to be supportive!" Quinn urged. "You're meant to tell me that it's all going to be okay and that Santana won't eat me for breakfast."

"But you two like nearly made out!"

Quinn slapped his arm.

"Puck!"

"Sorry, sorry, anyway Santana won't eat you for breakfast; Brittany will eat Santana for breakfast," Puck said cheekily while winking at Quinn.

"They really weren't wrong when they said you had a one track mind," Quinn said bluntly and shaking her head.

"I'm a guy full of teenage hormones and the idea of two hot girls making out, is pretty much my kind of heaven and if…"

"La La La La. Not listening La La La La."

Puck stopped, and instead said, "So back to you and Rachel making out instead then."

"Forget it Puck, and anyway we didn't make out," Quinn retorted sternly.

She slid herself off of the bed and headed for Puck's bedroom door.

"Look, don't go okay, I'll help, come sit back down, actually wait, are you hungry?"

"Yeah, I guess, what does this have to do with…" Quinn protested, but Puck cut her off.

"Come have lunch with me and we'll talk over a smoothie or something."

Quinn's face lit up at the offer, not only did someone not hate her but Puck was actually willing to try and help Quinn through this.

"Okay, when I say smoothie I mean Pizza, and when I say come have lunch with me, what I actually mean is, you're paying."

Quinn giggled at this and said, "Okay, I'll grab my stuff."

Puck drove himself and Quinn into the town of Lima in his chlorine smelling truck. On many occasions during Quinn's pregnancy she had rode in the truck and the fumes had more often than not made her feel nauseous. After a lot of convincing Puck had finally allowed her to hang two lavender smelling car fresheners on either wing mirror. To Quinn this had made the entire task completely redundant but it was better than nothing, she thought.

As Puck neared a small smoothie bar he stopped the truck and parked it wherever he could finds a space.

"That's illegal you can't just leave it there."

"Sure I can, I always do."

Quinn just rolled her eyes and linked arms with Puck leading him to the smoothie bar. Puck scanned the menu really quickly and picked the second most expensive item on it.

"Can you get me a Mocha madness smoothie Quinn?"

"Only because it's the most expensive thing on the menu," Quinn joked.

"Yeah, well I'm not paying for it," he grinned moving out of the way just in time otherwise Quinn's fist would have become part of Puck's manhood.

"Can we have a Raspberry rush and a Mocha Madness please?"

"Sure, that'll be $8.28 please, take a seat and we'll be right with you."

Quinn handed over ten dollars and waited for the change. Turning around she noticed that Puck had already found them a seat, and luckily for her it was in the shade. She didn't want another incident of bad sun burn at the start of the summer, lasting all the way up until school started.

"Here's $1.72 change."

Quinn took the money and thanked the waitress who had served her. Walking swiftly over to Puck she slapped him on the back of the head.

"What was that for?"

"Wasting my money. I'm just kidding, but I don't understand how you can drink a smoothie with coffee in it."

"Easy, you put the straw in your mouth and …"

"Haha, very funny," responded Quinn sarcastically.

They talked about last night's party laughing and joking about the ridiculous dares people had to do whilst she was out of the room accompanying Rachel by spitting water all over her.

"The funniest one by far was definitely Brittany attempting a posh English accent whilst lap dancing Mike," Puck laughed.

"Why talk English if she was lap dancing?"

"Oh, she had to talk dirty to him while she did it."

This made Quinn laugh incredibly loudly causing a few passer's by to look their way.

"I bet Tina was impressed."

"Oh she wasn't that bothered, she had the hardest dare of all. Santana had gone outside and was on the phone to someone so she didn't hear the dare, but the dare was to grind on Santana when everyone next danced. She did it as well, and the odd thing was Santana didn't seem to care and grinded back; but then Brittany through a bottle of beer at her and Santana soon stopped."

The last bit didn't surprise Quinn in the slightest; however, she'd never seen Brittany get defensive over Santana before. After a couple more minutes of laughing and talking, the waitress who had served them brought over their milkshakes and put them carefully on the small circular table.

"Have a nice day," the waitress said as she walked off.

Sipping their milkshakes in silence Quinn looked across the street from where she was sitting. There was a large emerald green field about 100 metres or so from where they were sitting. She'd never noticed it before but that was because she always tended to just get a smoothie and leave. The field however entranced Quinn, she had no idea what it was but there was something mesmerising about the way the grass reflected the light leaving an eerie green tinge reflected in the sky. The mish mash of whites and blues from the wisps of clouds in the sky collided in such a way that it looked like someone had painted it and then sprayed a very light shade of green over the top of it as a finishing touch. It looked a very peaceful place Quinn thought. Craning her neck to see further she saw that only a few people occupied the field, a family and their two sons were playing Frisbee, a young group of boys were playing football and odd couples here and there were walking across the grass holding hands.

To the edge of the field there was a cluster of dark green tree's which contrasted well with the emerald coloured grass, Quinn thought. In the evenings it would be a very romantic place, somewhere where you could walk hand in hand with your other half admiring the scenery and watch the sunset. It'd be a romantic place for me and Rachel to hang out, Quinn thought, but after realising what she was thinking she felt her heart drop knowing it would never happen.

Quinn was knocked out of her trance by Puck flicking her on the ear.

"Earth to Quinn, you spaced out gawping at that stupid field."

"How can the field be stupid?"

"Cause I lost my virginity on it at the age of fifteen?"

"Doesn't mean its stupid, that just makes you stupid."

Puck looked a little hurt which made Quinn feel bad, he had come here to help her after all.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it. It seems quite a romantic place really."

Puck sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, we came here to talk about you and your situation; so, do you have feelings for Rachel?"

Quinn blushed and genuinely didn't know the answer. Puck could see the confusion in her face and settled for an easier question.

"Did you want her to kiss you?"

"Yes."

"Would you have kissed back if she kissed you?"

Quinn could feel her face getting hotter and hotter but she answered, regardless, "Yes."

"Then there you go."

"What do you mean there we go?"

"Buy me another smoothie and I'll tell you," Puck said laughing, attempting to pull off the innocent face of an angel.

"Fine, but you better help me," Quinn threatened, trying to conceal her smile.

As Quinn rose from her chair to get another couple of smoothies, she knew that Puck would help her, even if his advice was 'kiss her, try copping a feel and see if she moves away,' Quinn knew that deep down he meant well.

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><p><strong>Thank-you all so far reading, some reviews would be great, what would you like to happen next ?<strong>


	10. Smoothies

**Disclaimer: I do not own glee or any of the characters.**

Thank-you all so much for reading this so far, comments and reviews would be cool. This chapter it s bit fluffy and full of emotions but hey, it all starts to fall together soon. Be patient and enjoy. (:

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><p><strong><span>Chapter 10<span>**

Six smoothies and a broke Quinn later, Puck was ready to talk.

"Oh come on, one more?"

"You've had nearly every smoothie on the menu; it would have been cheaper to get you a goddamn pizza!"

"Not my fault you're boring and have the _same_ smoothie everytime."

Quinn blushed at this.

"I saw that."

"Saw what?"

"You blush. Why the same smoothie?"

Ignoring the question Quinn said, "Help me first and I'll tell you." Although, in all honesty Quinn never intended on telling Puck why she chose the same smoothie, at all, ever. Ever.

"Well, if you want to kiss her and touch her and…"

Puck stopped mid sentence seeing Quinn's frown.

"Look all I'm saying is that if you want to be _intimate _with her, then it's much more than friendship."

Puck had a very good point. No one feels this way about someone they tortured for the last three years.

"Okay, so now what? What do I do Puck? I could have everyone, crowds would part, in their heads people were cheering me and I was the most popular girl in school; but were not at school anymore and Rachel is not everyone else is she, I can't just _have_ her, like I 'had' everyone else."

Puck was stunned into silence by this. He'd never thought of Rachel in this way before, but after Quinn had brought it all to his attention he noticed it too. However much Rachel got bullied she'd still continue to do the same thing that got her thrown into dumpsters and slushied day after day after day.

"I have an idea, but you said you'd tell me the smoothie secret."

Trying to distract Puck, Quinn asked, "Why didn't we ever smoothie people? Why slushie?"

"Cheaper, the people we slushied weren't worth smoothies and it doesn't have the same ring to it does it?"

Puck morphed his face as if he was talking to Finn, "I smoothied that loud mouthed Rachel Berry today. It just doesn't have that _ring_ to it."

Noticing Quinn's face he hurriedly apologised for using Rachel as an example.

"I have the same smoothie because it's my favourite…"

Puck cut across her, "So you have it 'cause it's your favourite?" He looked a little unbelieving towards Quinn but before he could say anything else, Quinn snapped, "No actually I dreamed as a child that if I ever had a baby they'd like the same foods as stuff as me; and I wish I could have found out if Beth liked them," Quinn held backs her tears but carried on, "If I keep drinking them the one I love, I can still live in hope that she'll like them too, but, but," Quinn's tears were falling freely now.

Puck reached across the table and put his hand on top of Quinn's that was still holding her half finished smoothie.

"But, I'll never know will I," she finished bitterly.

"Hey, come on," Puck said comfortingly as he squeezed her hand.

Quinn tried to force a weak smile but from where Puck was sitting it must have looked more like a grimace as he didn't return it.

"You know, I still think about her too you know. All the pool cleaning money would go to her and I'd have stopped picking up random chicks. I'd take her to the movies and I'd buy her Disney films to watch for when she was sick. I'd have tried to be a great dad."

Tears were slowly filling Puck's eyes as well. Quinn stopped holding her smoothie and squeezed Pucks hand back.

"We did the right thing though Puck, and one day you will be a great dad whether it's to another daughter or to a son."

"And so will you," he said smiling. "I'm sorry I asked."

"Don't be, it's fine. I only talk to you about this kind of stuff; I can't talk to anyone else. If I bring it up in conversation to my mum she just cries and starts apologizing for kicking me out and not standing up to dad. I don't see him that much anymore, in a way I'm glad, every time I go up there he asks how many children do I have now. I was young and I made a mistake, we made a mistake, why can't anyone just understand that?"

"I know babe, but you can always talk to me you know.

After giving Quinn a reassuring smile he finished his last smoothie and stood up, holding out his hand.

"Shall we?" he smiled.

Quinn took hold of Puck's hand dragged herself out of chair and let her be lead along to wherever he was taking her. With every step they neared closer and closer to the field, at first Quinn thought Puck was just taking a detour back to the truck, but he wasn't.

"You said it was romantic so let's go, maybe I can repeat the situation that I had as a fifteen year old," he said winking at Quinn.

Quinn let go of his hand and pushed him over.

"Hey, no fair."

"You, were on the team, so you," she said pointing at him, "can't complain about being weak, unless you are of course."

"Okay, fine, let's bring it on," he said running up to Quinn grinning and then rugby tackling her to the floor.

The grass had recently been cut as there were haphazardly placed piles of grass cuttings all over the field. So Puck didn't hurt Quinn he'd always tackle her into a pile of the soft yet sweetly smelling piles of grass. After a while Puck got tired and rolled onto his back in the midst of one of the piles. Quinn threw herself down next to him and thanked him.

"What are you thanking me for?" he asked looking puzzled.

"Making everything feel as if it will be okay."

"Of course it will babe, and if it's not, well, the puckster will be kicking so butt won't he."

"Okay, please never call yourself 'the puckster' ever again and I was a cheerio, wait, not just any old cheerio, _the head cheerio_, so I can kick butt all by myself."

Puck laughed and sighed.

"Babe, you just pranced around during practise, a little bit like Kurt does around Blaine."

Quinn slapped Puck hard in the chest and shouted, "You're going to pay for that, I worked goddamn hard to get guns like these."

Rolling up the t-shirt sleeves of her baggy white top, Quinn tensed her muscles with all of her might.

"See, you don't just wake up one morning with them."

Puck however, wasn't really listening. The whole time Quinn had been talking Puck was gathering up grass cuttings in the hand the Quinn couldn't see. Not realising what Puck was doing Quinn made to stand up but was pulled back by Puck's free hand and the next thing she knew, or should she say felt, was Puck's hand go sliding down the neck of Quinn's top throwing a handful of grass down there.

"Puckerman!" Quinn screeched. "You are dead to me."

"What ya gonna do? Hit me with your obviously mind blowing guns?"

At this Quinn couldn't help but let out a feeble smile. It was nice to be at ease with someone again. Okay, she didn't have Santana at the moment, and she probably owed Sam an apology but she wasn't completely alone anymore. She had Puck. In away she'd always had Puck and probably always will. He was one of those people that are always there even when you don't expect him to be. People don't give him enough credit, Quinn thought, they all judge him for his mistakes and look straight through the good things that Puck has actually done.

Forgetting why Quinn had gone out with Puck in the first place she asked, "Why did we even come here anyway?"

"You wanted to talk about Rachel stuff, and I was hungry."

Quinn rolled her eyes. He was as bad as Finn. When she'd been pregnant, despite eating for two people both Finn and Puck had eaten more in one day than she'd eaten in probably a week.

"Oh yeah," Quinn said completely fazed.

She'd almost forgotten about the whole Rachel fiasco, but as soon as Puck mentioned it a hollow feeling formed in her gut. She missed Rachel, not just in a personal way but just seeing her herself. Watching her not talk was excruciating for Quinn because she'd known it was her fault for Rachel's silence. I just want Rachel to be happy and if that's without me then I'll be fine, Quinn tried to convince herself. In a fruitless attempt to act like she was still fine she through a half hearted handful of grass back at Puck.

"Hey babe what's up?"

"This is all so pointless Puck; she won't talk to me or look at me. I've made her life a living hell and she never deserved it. I want to apologize to her, for every last little thing I did. I want to apologize for the people I paid to slushie her. I want to apologize to her for wanting to lower her confidence. I want to apologize to her for slapping her at the prom when all she did was try to help me. That's all she does Puck, she just tries to be herself because she wants to be accepted by everyone else. Apart from Kurt she's the bravest person I know. No one in this sodding town act like who they truly want to be; we all hide it so we don't feel like an outsider, so we feel as if we have friends, so we feel normal. But that isn't what normal is about is it, being normal is being who you are, being normal is doing whatever you want that makes you happy despite how others disparage it. I want that for her Puck, I want to apologize to her for putting her down when all she wanted to be was herself, and that takes guts. I walked all over everything she wanted; I'm not surprised she ran away from me. I'm not surprised she felt insecure, I gave her every reason for feeling insecure, but not anymore, she deserves better. And better clearly isn't me."

Puck was speechless and a little shocked by the so called 'Christian's' language. He could see the tears rolling down Quinn's cheeks. Never had he seen this side of Quinn before, the side of Quinn which everyone believed she didn't have; a vulnerable side. He wanted to hug and tell her it would all be okay but he couldn't do that anymore. He didn't want to give Quinn false hope; he did however want to help her.

"Come here," he said, beckoning Quinn towards him.

Quinn let Puck's arms melt into her and she felt safe again. She'd never felt safe Finn or Sam, rarely even Santana. In a street fight she might have felt protected by Santana but not in an emotional way, Santana was just like her; out to destroy everyone else because she is just afraid to be who she wants to be. Santana loves Brittany but she doesn't fight for Brittany because she doesn't want to start getting thrown into dumpsters and being slushied everyday of her life for _loving a girl_, in Lima being yourself was a complete brick wall.

Pulling away from Puck he began to talk, but not the usual Puck talk, actual sensible talk.

"I can't promise that you'll be able to make it up to Rachel in the way that you want and I can't promise that it's going to be okay anymore, usually I would but I don't want to lie to you Quinn. You mean too much to me than for me to lie to you."

Quinn smiled knowing that he meant well.

He continued, "But one thing I'm positive on is that Rachel deserving better is _you_ Quinn. Even if you don't see it, I do. I always have. You're not that bitch in uniform and a lot of people know that. At the party everyone was shocked to hear you being nice, but they didn't say anything because they knew it was in you somewhere and that you just needed to find it. Everyone takes their own time to find out who they are and you're slowly getting there, and that's fine. I'll help you Quinn, Rachel is like a weird Jewish-sister-cousin-person to me, and I want to see both her and you happy, so I'll do what I can okay."

A silence fell between the pair.

Then suddenly Quinn broke it, "I've never heard you string more than a few words together to make sentences so that was definitely an achievement. Maybe it's a Jewish thing, the whole stringing long sentences together, maybe you and Rachel would be perfect together," she teased.

Puck frowned.

"Our kids would be gold stars with Mohawks and that would be a painful birth."

Smiling, Quinn saw out of the corner of her eye that Puck had screwed his face up. He must have been picturing the image of Rachel trying to give birth to a gold star. _Painful_.

Not knowing what she was really about to do Quinn stood on her tiptoes and kissed Puck lightly on the cheek and whispered in his ear, "Thank-you."

He blushed and smiled a very reassuring smile, flashing his pearly whites at Quinn.

"Come on then Robin we have a plan to sort." Quinn grabbed Puck's hand and started dragging him back up the field in direction to the truck.

"Why am I Robin?" Puck said disappointedly. "He never had a Mohawk."

"No neither did batman but I probably look better in a leather suit than you do," they both laughed heartily.

"That's true, but you could just be cat woman," he voiced trying to hide the sound of arousal in his voice.

"You have one dirty mind Puckerman," Quinn said unsurprisingly.

As they passed the smoothie bar Quinn felt someone else's presence, as if she was being watched. She whipped around. Nothing.

"What?" Puck asked looking confused.

"Nothing, I thought I was being watched."

Puck dismissed it as almost as Quinn said it, let go of her hand and unlocked the truck.

"Your carriage awaits madam."

Quinn laughed. She hadn't laughed this much in a long time and it felt good to be happy again. The rest of her day was set, she thought. Go home and work out how to meet up with Rachel without Santana or Finn getting suspicious. She'd have to ask for puck's help but it'd be worth it, right?

Puck had his hand held out ready to help Quinn into the truck but before she took it she curtseyed and said, "Why thank-you dear sir."

Puck, who decided to play along too, bowed and then bent down on one knee taking Quinn's hand and kissing it.

Passer's by were giving the pair very weird looks and were chivvying their children along as fast as they could.

Puck helped Quinn up who immediately lost her balance and fell straight into his arms. He tried to mimic a romantic dance move in which he moved Quinn to the right of his body, supporting her with just one arm and then leant over her.

Their faces were a couple of centimetres apart when Puck said, "If you didn't have the hot's for Rachel right now I'd totally hit on you."

Quinn laughed and pulled herself upright, completely forgetting the feeling of someone else's presence. She climbed into the passenger side of Puck's truck just as he began revving the engine. After the engine spluttered and failed a few times puck managed to get it going and they roared off down the street.

From the other side of the road Rachel had been watching the pair muck around with each other smiling at Quinn's ease around him. But now she just stood stock still, tears in her eyes from the scene she had just witnessed. Quinn hadn't cared about the kiss at all and now she was with Puck again, Rachel thought, trying not to push the image Puck on one knee kissing Quinn's hand out of her head. Throwing the flowers she was holding into a nearby bin she hauled her bag onto her back and walked off feeling crestfallen.

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><p><strong>Comments and reviews?<strong>

**Next chapter: Do Quinn and Rachel's parents find out about their odd behaviour?**


	11. Judy Fabray

**Disclaimer: I do not own glee or any of the characters**.

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><p><strong><span>Chapter 11<span>**

Rachel walked over the threshold and slammed the door shut. Not even bothering to say hello to both of her Dad's, she ran upstairs and locked herself in the bathroom. She sat on the edge of the bath with her face in her hands. Why did I have to run off, she thought to herself, if I hadn't maybe this would all be sorted by now? I could tell her I didn't want to kiss her and she'd say she felt the same, end of. However, as much Rachel told herself that this was the outcome of the situation, she knew it wasn't.

"Rachel," Hiram said quietly from the other side of the door as not to startle the girl.

"Dad, I'm fine, don't worry about me."

"But I am worried; you're still my precious little girl you know."

Rachel smiled. She would always be loved by both of her dads. She always had a safe home to return to after all the endless bitching and fighting and just plain complicatedness of life.

"Is it Finn? I know you don't approve of violence but the baseball bat is still under the couch."

Rachel jumped up, crossed the bathroom and opened the door with a frown upon her face.

"Just kidding baby girl, give us a hug and tell us what's wrong. Please?"

However, Rachel completely ignored what her dad had just said as she was still more hung up about the baseball bat _still_ being under the couch.

"Dad you promised you'd move it, you scared Finn enough with it once already you don't need to do it again."

Hiram smiled as if reminiscing in that fateful evening.

Rachel had invited Finn over for dinner. Dinner went swimmingly it was after that that went completely pear shaped. Both Leroy and Hiram offered to get the pair some ice cream so disappeared out for half an hour or so; on their return they found Finn topless lying flat out on top of Rachel, clearly asleep. Rachel wasn't too bothered as she was half asleep as well but it started to get a little uncomfortable for her as Finn was nearly twice her body weight. Hiram had tiptoed into the room grabbing the baseball bat from the umbrella basket (in case of a burglary) ran into the living and shouted, "Freeze give me all your money!"

Finn flew off of Rachel and stood with his hands above his head, eyes screwed up so much that it gave him a headache. The next thing Finn heard was a raucous laughter and his eyes slowly opened and then widened at the scene that greeted him.

Rachel was perched on the edge of the couch head in her hands laughing uncontrollably. Hiram and Leroy were pretty much the only reason the other was standing. They were leaning hard on each other's shoulders just about propping themselves upright in a full flow of laughter.

Coming back to reality Hiram noticed that Rachel was still scowling.

"Okay honey I'm sorry I'll get rid of it but what if he's asleep on the stairs, I can't get it from the umbrella basket can I, it'll wake him. Oh, I know, I'll hide one in every room of the house," he said grinning.

"Dad, it is not funny, have you not noticed he hasn't been here since."

"Yeah, I had noticed, I'm just teasing you."

Rachel knew that he cared really even if he did enjoy terrorizing her boyfriends.

"Is it him though honey?"

"No, no dad it's not Finn. It's nothing okay, I promise."

Hiram smiled and headed for the stairs, just as his foot was on the bottom step Rachel yelled, "Thanks dad."

His smile grew wider and he walked through to the living room.

Puck dropped Quinn off home at roughly half past six in the evening and promised that he'd sort something out between Rachel and herself as soon as he could.

Quinn dumped her back on one of the many living room couches and shouted to her mum. At first there was no reply and then suddenly her mum came bustling in with several drinks on a tray.

"Look Quinnie I learnt how to make non alcoholic cocktails."

Judy looked incredibly pleased with herself.

"Oh, wow, great mum."

As unconvinced as Quinn sounded, she couldn't be happier that her mum had finally got over the drinking problem. Just as Judy put the tray down on the coffee table Quinn pulled her mum into a tight embrace and never wanted to let go.

A little bewildered but flattered all the same Judy hugged her daughter back stroking her golden hair and brushing it behind her ears.

"What's the matter? Is it a guy? Oh my God you're not pregnant are you? Look we can go to the shops right away, this shouldn't be left Quinnie. We'll get a couple of the really good pregnancy tests just to make sure. Wait, have you already taken the test. Oh of course you have what am I thinking. Who was it this time, that Puck kid again? Or Finn, no of course not, if his little swimmers have as much brains as he does then they have no hope. Maybe it's Sam. Quinnie how often do you get around? Are you going to keep it? Oh, what am I going to do with you, you can't keep your legs shut for five minutes."

Quinn couldn't take all this information in at once. She took a wild step back from her mum and tried to put an end to her mad ramblings.

"Mum," but Judy was still too carried away.

"Is it a boy, is it a girl? It could be twins, no, triplets! How long have you known that you're, well, you know? I wonder how much weight you'll put on this time. You're maternity clothes are all upstairs still, I know I said I threw them out but I kept a few just in case the worse happened again."

"Mum, stop it! I'm not pregnant and I can't believe you kept my maternity clothes. I made that mistake once okay; it won't happen again I promise."

Judy, a little breathless by this time, stopped talking. A huge grin crept across her face and she fell back onto the couch exhausted.

"I knew you wouldn't have got pregnant again. You're such a sensible girl and…"

Judy stopped as she saw the sceptical look on Quinn's face.

"You just said that I never keep my legs shut and that you kept my maternity clothes _just in case the worse happened_, so don't try and pretend that you believe in me."

Judy blushed, "Okay, you're right, but I'm your mum okay and I want to protect you, no matter what happens."

Quinn smiled and sank down into the couch opposite.

"So what is it then sweetie," she said after taking a few sips of her non alcoholic beverage.

"Oh, it's nothing, just some stuff that happened at the party."

Judy was intrigued by this and wanted to find out more but without being too obvious.

"What happened then? Did you have sex with a guy?" Great subtly Judy Fabray, she thought to herself.

Quinn scowled and said, "No mum actually I did not have _sex_ with a guy I made love with a girl until the cows came home."

Judy's face froze. What was this, she thought to herself? Her daughter wasn't _gay_. No of course she wasn't getting knocked up was proof enough of that.

"You are, um, joking right honey?"

The expression on Quinn's face wilted a little, as much as she wished that was what happened, it was nothing like that at all; and anyway coming out to her mum like that was like leaving a bottle of Jack Daniels with a tag saying drink me on it on her mother's bed side table; a recipe for complete disaster.

"Of course I'm joking Mum, someone kissed me that was all."

Judy looked relieved.

There was a question sitting at the back of Quinn's head that she wanted to voice so much but she didn't want her world to completely crumble down around her all over again. She tried to bite her tongue, but the overwhelming sensation to find out the answer burned inside of her. Before she realised, the words had escaped her mouth.

"If I was, I'm not by the way, but if I was, um, yeah, you know, with a girl, or liked a girl or whatever, would that, would it matter to you? Would you um, still love me?"

Judy had a puzzled expression on her face. Truthfully Judy didn't agree with same sex couples but then everything had been dictated to her by her ex-husband, so in all honesty Judy hadn't got a clue about how she'd feel. She could see Quinn was getting anxious as she was sitting a little slouched and twiddling her thumbs. There is obviously something deeper going on here, Judy thought to herself, but she wasn't sure she was ready to hear whatever Quinn had to say, but more importantly she didn't want to make Quinn feel any more uncomfortable than she already did.

Beckoning her daughter over to her she put her now empty glass down on the table and put her arm around Quinn, bringing them closer to each other. At first Quinn was tense but she soon relaxed under the soothing arm of her mother.

"Quinnie, I'll be honest okay," she gulped but continued, "Your father dictated everything to me, everything he believed I believed. Since he's been gone I haven't really thought about forming my own opinions because I haven't really needed to. However, your fathers thought same sex couples were a sin and for a time I thought the same too, but since you've brought the question to light; I honestly don't know how I feel about it. I've never had the chance to form my own decision before and now I do. Don't worry though Quinnie, whatever happens I'll always love you and you'll always have a roof over your head no matter what."

"Thanks mum."

Judy let herself ease back into the couch holding her beautiful daughter in her arms. It was times like these that Judy lived for. So what if Quinn was gay or liked girls or liked just a girl. It doesn't matter because she's my daughter, Judy thought, and I'm going to everything in my power to protect her. That kid Kurt at Quinn's school is gay and he is happy, there's nothing wrong with him or his family, it's not a _sin_ just because he loves someone. That's like saying being a vegetarian is a sin; just because it's different, it doesn't make it wrong. Yes, my mind is made up, she thought to herself.

"You know what Quinn, I don't need time to think about that question you asked me, I have an answer."

Quinn held her breath. She was worried.

"I'll love you for whoever you love Quinn and whoever you want to be with makes me happy so long as you're happy. So yes if you wanted to date a girl or whatever that would be fine with me. I'll be honest, it's something I've never experienced before so I wouldn't know how to react at first, but I'd learn okay, and I'd try to do my best."

Quinn beamed at her mum but quickly stifled it into a warm comforting smile.

At that precise moment Quinn's phone beeped. Pulling it from her pocket and looking at the screen she realised that she'd had two missed calls and a text from Puck.

Quinn made to stand up and said, "I should probably reply to this."

Judy just nodded and said, "Whatever you want honey. You hungry? I'll cook us some dinner."

"That'd be great mum."

Judy watched her daughter get up and walk to the living room door, her daughter turned and smiled at her.

"I'm here when you want to talk about it, okay?" Judy said in a very comforting a reassuring voice.

Quinn smiled and headed to her room.

Her heart would not stop beating. Quinn read the text to herself over and over again to make sure that it wasn't a trick of the light.

"_Finn is coming over to mine tomorrow afternoon from 12-3, I told Rachel to meet you at that smoothie bar we went to earlier. Hold back the applause I already know I'm a genius, but you owe me big time! Hope all goes well."_

After texting Puck back saying, "_You already owe me about 345687654 smoothies so let's call it quits hey,"_ Quinn flung herself onto the bed holding her phone to her chest.

If only Rachel could feel how quickly Quinn's heart was beating for her now.

Quinn woke up incredibly early the next day, she had a lot to prepare but in a very subtle way. She needed to look presentable but alluring without looking over the top. She needed to know what she was going to say without acting like she rehearsed it. Who was she kidding; Quinn was so excited about meeting Rachel later she ran downstairs into the kitchen still in her pj's nearly knocking her mother flying.

"Well someone's in a good mood today," Judy laughed.

"No, I'm just, ah okay who am I kidding I'm really happy mum."

Judy just smiled, when Quinn was ready to tell her what was going on she would, but until then she wasn't going to push it. She'd only just got her daughter back; she didn't want to push her away again.

"Could you give me a lift to the smoothie bar for about 12 please?"

"Sure honey, call me when you're ready."

At half past eleven Quinn came bounding down the stairs in a flowing knee length white flowery dress and a small banana yellow cardigan draped over her shoulders. She was also wearing flat white shoes that almost mimicked a ballerina's. Her hair that had grown a lot in the last year was scruffily plaited to the right side of her head.

"You look stunning Quinnie, whoever you're meeting must be one special person."

Quinn blushed and in her head was thinking that Rachel was indeed one special person.

Judy pulled up to a flower shop hopefully giving Quinn a subtle hint about her 'meet-up' in about ten minutes time; however she made an excuse for stopping here.

"I'll drop you here as I don't want you to feel like I'm intruding."

"Hey, of course you're not intruding mum."

Quinn leaned across from her seat kissed her mum on the cheek and undid her seat belt. If Quinn was totally honesty she was incredibly nervous and had no idea of what was going to happen or what was going to be said.

Seeing the look on her daughter's face Judy said, "Stop worrying it'll be fine and whatever happens I'll be at home waiting with ice cream whether it's a good or bad outcome, okay."

Quinn loved how laid back her mum was since her dad had left, it was as if she was finally free to be who she wanted to be and feel what she wanted to feel.

Opening the car door Quinn jumped out.

"Here take this," Judy handed Quinn $20. "Treat yourselves, do something nice."

"Thank-you mum," Quinn truly meant it, she'd never felt as secure and as safe at home as she did now, she knew that no matter what happened there would be two amazing people to fall back on, Puck and her mum.

Judy tried to brush the gratitude aside but Quinn insisted her mum acknowledge it, "I'm serious mum, thank-you, thank-you for everything."

Standing on the side walk Quinn watched her mum pull away from the curb and drive swiftly out of sight. She looked up at the flower shop and debated whether to take some or not. Better not, she thought, it's not as if it's a date it's just, a mutual meet up thing.

As Quinn neared the smoothie bar she could already see Rachel. Rachel was standing awkwardly looking at her feet holding a small black handbag in her hand. She was wearing a typical animal sweater and a knee length black skirt. Although Quinn was still too far away to see which animal was on her sweater her senses told her that it would be a Koala. Rachel associated Koala's with summer which is rather ironic seeing summer is usually incredibly hot yet she seemed to dress as if it was the middle of winter. Quinn pushed the thought aside and walked closer to Rachel her heart beating louder and quicker with each nearing step.

Just a few metres from reaching Rachel, Rachel looked up and noticed the blonde. A feeble smile crossed her face but she immediately diminished it.

Rachel blushed and stuttered a hurried, "Hi."

"Hey," Quinn replied.

They stood awkwardly for a few minutes until Quinn asked, "Shall we grab a seat then, we look rather antisocial otherwise."

"Oh yeah, course," Rachel replied, her cheeks flashing a deep magenta colour again.

Quinn strolled over to her favourite vacated seat of the outdoor smoothie bar. Rachel smiled at Quinn but stopped as soon as Quinn noticed.

Inside both of the girls, past the fluttering hearts and the rampant butterflies they both knew that it was going to be a long yet interesting day.

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><p><strong>Comments and reviews?<strong>

Thank-you for reading (:


	12. Words of wisdom

**Disclaimer I do not own glee or any of the characters. Bit of a fluffy chapter really, reviews and comments?**

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><p><strong><span>Chapter 12<span>**

"So how's um, everything?" Rachel asked wearily.

The situation was very awkward. Neither held eye contact with the other and the silences after each forced conversation became longer and longer. This was Rachel's first attempt at talking; so far Quinn had been the only one to pluck up the courage to talk, even if it was only asking what smoothie she wanted and was she cold due to the sweater she was wearing.

Quinn took this as her opportunity to tell Rachel the truth; it was now or never. She had nothing left to lose apart from a friendship she was never sure she had.

"Actually, everything is confusing."

Judging by Rachel's expression Quinn knew that she had already been expecting the answer.

"I had a feeling you were going to say that," the brunette replied calmly, but still not making eye contact with Quinn.

Another long silence.

"You did know you were meeting me here right and no one else?" Quinn asked.

"Yes, Noah said you had something to tell me but our lack of conversation has lead me to believe that he was lying."

Quinn felt a little flushed. Puck hadn't completely been lying but he hadn't exactly told the truth either. She'd spent the entirety of last night tossing and turning in bed not being able to get comfortable as the infinite possibilities of today's meeting going wrong had filled her thoughts.

Rachel saw Quinn's puzzled expression and thus helped her out.

"Look, I'm not saying you lack academic skills I'm just saying that my academic skills along with my singing skills, of course, easily out do yours; therefore I can't say I'm surprised that you hadn't planned on how this meeting would go. Luckily for you I have a presentation prepared back at my place. Don't worry the diagrams aren't too graphic and…"

Rachel stopped in her tracks as Quinn choked on her smoothie.

"Diagrams?" Quinn spluttered.

"Well yeah, it wasn't just any old kiss we shared and I don't want you getting the wrong idea of what it meant."

"Okay, just stop, I wanted to come here today to clear the air with you not to be shown a petty presentation on what type of kiss we shared. To me at was a kiss on the cheek. A tender and loving kiss on the cheek. In my book that means that you did it for a reason, and if not, you're slowly becoming a clone of Santana's seductive ways," Quinn finished a little out of breath.

Rachel looked slightly taken aback and said, "Well it was a just a tender kiss on the cheek, maybe I underestimated your academic skills and…"

"Stop with the academic skills okay. It was a kiss on the cheek now can we please continue."

Blushing, Rachel muttered, "Sorry."

Another long silence occurred but was interrupted by the waitress asking if they wanted another smoothie each.

Rachel replied quickly and coldly, "If we wanted another smoothie don't you think we'd have asked for one."

The waitress blushed a little, hurried an apology and walked away.

"There was no need for that kind of attitude, she was being polite."

Rachel just shrugged. Why should she be polite when the waitress when she had clearly interrupted them, Rachel thought.

Another few moments of silence passed and it was Quinn's turn to break the silence again.

"I liked that you kissed me, it showed that you cared."

Rachel noticed the past tense in Quinn's words and decided to comment on it.

"You don't need to use the word 'cared' because I still care."

Quinn looked confused for a moment but then understood what Rachel meant. Rachel's mouth opened and closed soundlessly as if she was trying to say something but she couldn't find the right words.

"I didn't want to kiss you properly, because I'm with Finn, sorry. I just wanted you to know that there's someone there for you if you need someone."

Quinn felt as if her heart was one of those boards with different shaped holes in it where you could only put in the shape that fitted. It felt like this because at that precise moment in time it felt like a child was deliberately trying to slam the square into the triangle. Why did it feel like this? Because Rachel was telling Quinn something that Quinn didn't want to hear. Rachel was trying to force information into Quinn's heart that didn't belong there. She didn't want to be told that she was still with Finn; by the sound of it Rachel hadn't got any intentions of breaking up with Finn either. Quinn didn't need this, suddenly she couldn't breathe, and she felt intoxicated by what Rachel had just said. She just wanted to tell Quinn she was there for her? She could have said that not lead her on by going to kiss her and then not.

"I'm sorry if you thought it was more Quinn, but…"

"No don't say but, but is never a good thing. I don't know you well Berry but I know that you're lying to me, you went to kiss me properly but stopped and as you were going to kiss me something in your head was compelling you to do it."

Rachel knew that Quinn was right. She had wanted to kiss Quinn, she really had. But she couldn't break up with Finn for Quinn. What if it all went pear shaped. What if it didn't work out? What if Quinn didn't keep her safe like Finn did. All of these questions were floating around Rachel's head as she had gone to kiss Quinn but the last question in her head had been the one that stopped her from kissing Quinn properly. What if she had _feelings_ for Quinn? Rachel knew that deep inside her there were feelings for Quinn but she did her goddamn best to bury them. She was in denial and she knew it.

"If I have feelings for you then why did I nearly have sex with Finn last night?"

The square had just been rammed straight through the triangle and out of the other side. Talk about rubbing salt in the wound.

Tears began to fill Quinn's eyes; she knew Rachel was doing this to spite her. She did her best to compose herself.

"I like you Rachel, I have feelings for you. The feelings I have are confusing me and I thought I could talk to you so you could help me make sense of them, but clearly I was wrong. Just to help you out though, you _nearly_ had sex with Finn; you didn't actually _do it_ that should tell you more than enough about how you feel"

Quinn got up, grabbed her bag and left the smoothie bar. Just as she was half way down the street Rachel caught up with her and grabbed her shoulder.

"Look I'm sorry okay."

The brunette looked genuinely upset for the spite she used towards Quinn.

Quinn waited for Rachel to keep going but Rachel was speechless. She couldn't bury her feelings anymore; Quinn had been honest so now it was her turn.

"Okay, I lied. I wanted to kiss you. I really did, but, I don't, I don't know Quinn. I've never liked a girl before and it's all knew to me."

"What and I just jump into bed with everyone do I? I might hang around with Santana but I don't pick up her habits as well."

"I know, and I'm sorry Quinn. I'll make it up to you I promise. We'll talk about this properly, no awkwardness and just honest feelings okay?"

Quinn's face lit up, "Okay," she said, positively glowing.

"7pm breakstix on Friday?"

"That sounds cool."

"It's a date then," Rachel said smiling at Quinn's dumbfounded expression. "Don't look too shocked, you're paying," she said teasingly. And that's when it happened, for the second time in Quinn's life Rachel had kissed her, but this time it was different; it was a proper kiss, completely on Quinn's lips.

Quinn beamed as she walked home. She didn't care that it was a two mile trek she was just happy that she had a date with Rachel Berry on Friday night. Being on Friday, it gave Quinn four days to prepare and get ready.

On Thursday Afternoon Quinn decided that she needed to talk to Santana. To Quinn Santana was the female version of Puck, dependent on sex but good to talk to when you needed them. Quinn wanted to tell Santana everything, right down to the last intricate detail of the kiss that she and Rachel shared after their meet up the other day but Quinn knew far too well that Santana had a huge loathing for _'man hands.'_

Quinn had two options try to talk to Santana civilly (which nobody had ever successfully managed before) or to get here drunk. For Quinn it was definitely the latter option. She planned the evening carefully, she didn't want Santana to be so drunk that she forgot their conversation but she wanted her to be drunk enough that she wasn't able to pass any lucid judgement about Rachel.

At eight o'clock Judy welcomed Santana into the Fabray household and offered her a drink. Quinn had already prepped her mum on what she was planning that evening, however she may have told a white lie.

"_Mum I need to get Santana drunk this evening."_

"_Honey, I know you haven't had a boyfriend recently but do you really think that getting Santana drunk is the solution to that?" _

_Once again, good subtly Judy._

"_No mum, I am not planning to sleep with Santana, she has the entirety of Lima __**minus me**__to do that with okay."_

_Her mother blushed a little but nodded._

"_Can I ask what it's about then?" Judy queried. _

"_I need to tell her something that she isn't going to like, I want her to remember what I tell her but I don't want her to pass any stupid judgements."_

_Judy frowned._

"_Your best friend is supposed to support you in whatever you do Quinnie, just tell her without the alcohol."_

"_Mum, Santana threw me against a locker when I was pregnant and nearly massacred Rachel after a loss at glee club so do you really think Santana is going to be jumping for joy when I tell her that me and Rachel are slowly becoming acquainted again."_

_For a second Quinn thought that her mum was reading far too into it but all of a sudden Judy said, "Okay, I'll start on some cocktails." _

Santana thanked Judy for the lime green drink and proceeded up to Quinn's bedroom. Quinn had been waiting nervously for Santana's arrival and was pacing her room as Santana opened the door.

"This shit is good," Santana said downing the entire contents of the green liquid.

If Santana kept up like this, Quinn's job of telling Santana about herself and Rachel would be an absolute breeze.

"Would you like another drink?" Quinn asked politely.

"You're not trying to get me drunk are you Fabray because however drunk I am I still won't forgive you for talking to Rachel at Puck's party."

And there it was Santana's first dig at Rachel and she had only been in her house for about ten minutes.

Before Quinn could say anything thought, Santana was already off on one.

"I can't drink too much anyway I'm meeting Brit after this and I can't be drunk while having lady lovings otherwise it won't be very enjoyable."

Quinn just rolled her eyes.

"All you think about is you between her legs and actually for a matter of fact it's all you talk about as well."

"What do you expect, I'm a girl with needs and Puck is busy these days."

"Brittany is still with Artie right?" Quinn asked, not wanting to hear the answer.

"No actually, they broke up the other day. Brittany was really upset until I gave her an offer she couldn't refuse."

Typical Santana, Quinn thought.

Santana noticed Quinn rolling her eyes this time and said, "Actually I offered to take her to feed the ducks."

Quinn looked positively surprised.

"Awh that's really sweet of you Santana, who knew you had a soft side."

Santana punched Quinn's arm and mumbled something under her breath.

"What was that I didn't quite catch it Santana?" Quinn asked.

"Nothing," the Latina hastened but she knew that Quinn had heard her perfectly the first time.

"You are really something else, you take her to feed the ducks and have sex in the park afterwards, do you really have no emotions?"

"Of course I have emotions they just live in my…"

"La la la, I don't need information about _where _your emotions live thank you very much, it'd be another mentally scarring image that I don't need."

An hour later Santana and Quinn were both in the Jacuzzi reminiscing about glee club.

"Rachel isn't _that_ bad at singing you know," Quinn said.

"Quinn, are you tone deaf? Have you really never heard the dwarf sing? She sounds like a cat being run over repeatedly."

Quinn frowned; this was going to be much harder than she first anticipated. She poured Santana her sixth drink despite it having no effect on the Latina.

"Actually, I was wrong, man hands is probably good at one thing."

Quinn's eyes widened with shock at what she had just heard the brunette say.

"Sorry, are you feeling okay Santana? Have you had too much to drink, you were nearly nice then."

Santana threw Quinn a dirty look and said, "Don't get too excited, I was going to say that she's probably excellent in bed as she has no talent in anything else."

Quinn splashed water in Santana's face. She was never going to get Santana drunk enough to tell her what she wanted to so instead she let off subtle hints by playing along with Santana's joke.

"You're right she probably is good in bed."

"You totally want in her pants Fabray."

Quinn couldn't help but blush at Santana's words, she tried to hide it, but it was too late, the Latina had noticed.

"Oh my god, that's why you asked me here tonight isn't it? You were going to get me drunk and tell me hoping that I'd forget."

There was a brief pause. Quinn didn't see the point in agreeing or disagreeing with what Santana said, it'd be pointless either way.

"I'm proud of you Quinn."

"Excuse me?" Quinn said a little shocked.

"Trying to get me drunk before you told me, you have style and I taught you well."

Quinn laughed.

"I'm not mad okay, I kind of guessed at Puck's what was going on. The only reason I was pissed was because you didn't tell me what was going on. I saw her kiss you Quinn."

"Shit."

"No it's fine, whatever makes you happy Quinn," Santana said rubbing Quinn's arm reassuringly.

"Thanks it means a lot."

"But this doesn't mean that one; I'm going to be nice to her and two, that I'll be nice to you. It is a perfect opportunity to crack jokes at every possible minute."

"Santana."

"No, you didn't tell me when you could have and you must deal with the consequences, got it?"

Knowing that she had no choice in it, Quinn agreed.

After another twenty minutes of general chit chat Santana announced that she was leaving. Quinn thanked her for coming over but nothing could prepare her for what Santana said to her on the doorstep.

"I'm off to have some lady lovings with Brit, if you and Berry ever want a foursome the answer is no, unless I'm allowed to burn every single one of Rachel's animal sweaters; also I'll get Brit to give you a talk on how to get in Rachel's pants."

Santana could see the anger taking over Quinn's face but she continued regardless.

"Oh and if you ever need any sex toys, just ask and I'll get them for you, although we may have to discuss what you want and what size you want it in and if Rachel isn't that good in bed, let me know and you can have a three some with me and Brit, okay? Good I'll see you soon then, Bye."

And with a wave of her hand Santana was gone. Quinn was just left standing on her doorstep completely traumatised by Santana's _words of wisdom_ as she liked to call them.

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><p><strong>Next chapter: Rachel talks to Finn. Quinn talks to Puck. And what is Santana planning?<strong>


	13. Mable Hope Kitson

**Disclaimer: I do not own glee or any of the characters. **

**This is definately a chapter full of feelings, sorry it's so long. Comment and reviews. (:  
>Thanks for all your support so far.<br>**

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><p><strong><span>Chapter 13<span>**

Rachel didn't quite know how she felt about her and Quinn's date. In one way it felt, well, just right but in another way she felt incredibly disloyal to Finn. She needed to talk to him, and try to explain what was going on. Finn wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed but he wasn't the bluntest knife in the drawer either. After the date though, Rachel thought, there's no point making her date miserable just because Finn can't cope with heart breaking information. She mentally slapped herself for being so unkind but then took the mental slap straight back when she remembered how many times he'd cheated on her.

Standing in front of her mirror she checked her reflection. For once she hadn't picked out an animal sweater, instead she wore a tight red and grey checked blouse with the top three buttons undone, for class rather than ogling. Beneath the blouse she attained tight denim jeans and shiny black ankle boots. A silver watch was strapped around her right wrist and on her left she wore a silver bracelet that bore three charms: a dolphin, a star and a sea horse. It was the only thing her mother had left her and each charm she had collected over the years represented something unique in Rachel's life.

The star portrayed Rachel's future career, whether it be working in a coffee shop or on a Broadway show, Rachel was determined to be the damn best at whatever she ended up doing. The dolphin was her favourite childhood animal and when she was five her fathers had taken her on a boat trip and then to a sea life centre to visit and pet the dolphins. It was the happiest childhood memory she possessed. She still remembered standing on tiptoes to peer over the gift shop's counter just to point at the small silver charm that dangled from the cashier's wrist.

Her dad soon noticed what she was pointing at and he asked the cashier where she'd got it from. She was very helpful and explained that she'd got it from a jeweller just down the road. As her seventh birthday wasn't far away her dad's got it as a present for Rachel, ever since then she wore it as a good luck charm. _Good things will come to those who wait._ They were her father's (Leroy) words as he walked hand in hand with his daughter through the school gates on Rachel's first day of school and of course she was wearing her silver bracelet with her dolphin charm on. She felt safe with the dolphin, as if someone was watching over her, just as she wished and believed her mother had been.

The sea horse was the last charm she had been given. On her sixteenth birthday, ten years after her first visit to the sea life centre her dad's offered to take her again. She accepted the offer. It had changed a lot since she last went there but the same woman still sat at the gift shop desk with the same bracelet on her wrist. As Rachel had been paying for the silver seahorse charm the cashier turned to her and said, "I remember the first time you visited here as if it was yesterday; you stood on tiptoes just to point at the dolphin on my wrist. I lost it you know, I cried and I was forty when I lost it. Whatever you do keep hold of it; I regret not taking more care of mine. Someone special gave it to me"

The cashier's words had touched Rachel, so she excused herself from her dad's presences and went to the same jeweller just down the street. Unlike the sea life centre, it hadn't changed at all. Rachel had gone in the shop with her dad when she was six but she looked around at all of the silver and gold and admired it with an open mouth. Everything was still as it was apart from the jewellery had changed. Rachel purchased a plain silver chain and a dolphin charm. She attached the charm to the bracelet and headed back to the sea life centre. The woman was still there and serving another little girl who reminded Rachel of herself, small, innocent and naïve. Rachel wished she was still as young, dreaming the impossible and not having to worry about anything.

Once the child walked and her family walked away Rachel reproached the desk. The cashier gave a warm smile to Rachel and asked if she could help with anything. Not knowing how to present the bracelet Rachel started up a conversation.

"What's your name? I've been here every year since I was six and I still don't know your name," Rachel asked politely.

"You're such a polite girl you know," the cashier said deliberately evading the question, "It's a shame people in our society aren't all like you."

"Thank-you, but you still didn't answer."

The cashier sighed, "My name is Mable Hope Kitson."

Rachel smiled, "Unique," she said.

"Everyone laughs, I got bullied at school, but you don't need to hear all this."

"No, carry on."

Rachel was genuinely intrigued by this woman's story.

"I was given the bracelet as a gift from my mother; she died when I was young. Her last words were _you can be anything you want to be so long as you put your mind to it, _so I did. I got a degree in English literature and I wrote, I was a journalist and I wrote some of my own stuff. I wrote songs to express how I felt; you can't imagine what it's like to not have a mother."

However, Rachel knew exactly what it was like to live without a mother.

"My Father had chosen the middle name Hope, and I'm glad he did, through all of the bullying it was _hope_ that kept me going. I named the dolphin on my bracelet Hope. No one knew that though. Then a few weeks ago I lost it, it must have come undone and fallen off without me realising. And it was then that I lost hope, I was diagnosed with breast cancer just last week, and it's too late for therapy."

Mable didn't look sad but Rachel knew exactly how she felt.

"I don't know my mum either, I grew up with my two dads, I've met her a few times but we don't talk now. I'm sorry to hear about your illness but I have something that may bring you hope back."

Rachel outstretched her hand to Mable, whose eyes were now filled with tears.

"You shouldn't have. But why?"

"Everybody needs someone to keep them going, for me my dad's keep me going, for my friends its music and for you it was that bracelet and the memory of your mother. I named the Dolphin for you, he's called _Lucky_."

A tear rolled down Mable's cheek. She was speechless yet at the same time in complete awe of the girl standing in front of her. Rachel took the bracelet out of her hand and Mable held out her left wrist. Carefully, without pinching Mable's skin, Rachel fastened the bracelet together.

"I'm Rachel by the way. I hold my head high and keep going when other's put me down. My life is hell most of the time but I only have a year and a bit left at high school then I'll pursue my dreams. Whether I get to Broadway or whether I land a job selling sandwiches I know I'll be happy because I know I'll put everything I have into that job. Fight for what you believe in Mable, try the therapy, even if there is no _hope _left, you may still get _lucky_. You won't know until you try."

Mable walked around the desk and pulled Rachel into a tight embrace.

"I'll come back every year still, I promise, keep strong and you know what, if I get to Broadway, I'll get you a front row ticket."

"I'd love that," Mable replied.

Rachel squeezed Mable's hand, gave her a warm smile and then left through the glass double doors.

Still staring at her reflection Rachel knew that she'd be back to visit Mable soon and maybe she'd even take Quinn to visit her. Mable seemed open minded and maybe she'd like it, she'd like the company. She lifted her wrist to her mouth and placed a small kiss on each charm in turn. Everything will be fine Rachel, it will all be fine.

A few blocks away Quinn was also getting ready. Quinn had already been outside several times much to her mum's annoyance to check the temperature and the weather.

"You've been up and down those stairs four times in the last twenty minutes; it's not going to change that quickly, Quinnie. You're beautiful whatever you wear."

There was a pause and then suddenly Judy's voice filled the house again, "Like I said you look beautiful in whatever you wear but don't wear anything clingy or revealing. Or anything to summery. Or anything that says too much about yourself, people second guess too much these days."

Judy turned around to see her daughter frowning at her.

"I'm kidding honey, you look wonderful."

Quinn was wearing a flowing knee length white dress with butter cups on. The butter cups looked as if they had been blown across the dress because the pattern was blurred and streaks of yellow followed behind each individual flower. Over the top of the dress Quinn had perched a black cotton cardigan over her shoulders. The dress revealed quite a lot of Quinn's chest but she could always put the cardigan on properly and button it up.

"I won't be long mum," Quinn said as she rushed back upstairs again.

Picking up a small handmade bag something in the corner of her room caught Quinn's eye. She walked over to her wardrobe and knelt down; a piece of paper was wedged underneath it. As carefully as she could Quinn encouraged the piece of paper out with the tips of her fingers. It was a folded and rather crumpled piece of paper. Unfolding it and flattening it out with a book at once Quinn remembered exactly what it was.

Her first ever piece of homework had been set in an English class. They had to write a small paragraph about their family and then describe their own family. Instead of writing Quinn seemed to attain an apt for drawing so instead drew a picture. The picture consisted of a crayon drawing of herself, her older sister, her dad and her mum all holding hands. Underneath the picture was a scrawl that was just legible enough for Quinn to read. _When I grow up I want to be just like this._

How ironic Quinn thought. Looking back then her family was perfect. There were no problems, no drinking and no arguing but most of all: definitely no teenage pregnancies. Now her family was in pieces. She lived alone with her mum, her sister wrote once a year and she saw her dad every now and then and it was never a happy visit. What Quinn would do to be naïve and young again? Everything was perfect as a child, your parents protected and you felt invincible to the world. All Quinn felt now was vulnerable. She had Puck and her mother. There was nothing wrong with either of them but Quinn had always longer for a group of friends. She had a group of people, but she couldn't call them her friends, not after the way she had treated the majority of them.

Quinn folded the piece of paper up again and put it in her handbag so she wouldn't lose it. She was determined to make everything okay again, to make everything okay with everyone. She didn't care how long this was going to take; she just knew it's what she needed to do.

Rachel arrived ten minutes early but it didn't matter. She waited for Quinn outside, and it was a warm evening so there was no chance of getting cold. Friday evenings were always busier at Breadstix, but this particular evening, to Rachel it seemed rather quiet. The table was booked for seven o'clock and there was usually a twenty minute waiting time for a meal, but with the emptiness of the place she figured that it would be much quicker than that.

At five minutes to seven, Rachel saw Quinn pull into the car park. Butterflies filled her stomach and she was positively bouncing when Quinn approached her. Quinn looked stunning, her hair was naturally curly and it was all brushed to one side and wrapped around her neck. She wore a silver necklace with a butterfly on it and a small silver clip held Quinn's fringe out of her face.

"Shall we?" Quinn asked opening the door for Rachel.

Once they were seated they were both handed menus by a rather young looking waiter and then given complimentary breadstix, naturally. After a few minutes of studying the menus both girls were ready to order. The young waiter came back and took their orders. For Quinn it was a lasagne with a side dish of salad and for Rachel it was a Tofu scramble and a side dish of salad.

"The wait for food should only be ten minutes, thank-you for your patience," the waiter said as he took their menus back and left the girls to it.

A silence fell over the pair but it didn't feel awkward.

Quinn studied Rachel was if she were a book, but was careful so that Rachel didn't notice. Every time they caught the other staring at themselves they'd blush and quickly look away. Rachel was incredibly pretty this evening, Quinn thought to herself. Her hair was neatly tied back and she wore a beautiful bracelet on her wrist. She assumed she'd been given it as a child due to the animal charms, but Quinn didn't want to pass judgement. Rachel had a very slender face, her cheek bones were very prominent and having her hair tied back brought more attention to this beautiful bone structure.

Rachel caught Quinn staring at her and smiled.

"Do you like what you see?" Rachel asked teasingly.

Quinn turned a shade of pink but answered the question all the same.

"You look stunning Rachel."

Rachel smiled once again and thanked the blonde.

"Don't look too bad yourself really," the brunette joked.

They both laughed and then fell silent again.

Once their food was served they ate in silence and only stopped eating to take frequent sips of water. As they both finished their plates of food, the waiter returned and asked if they'd like to see the desert menu. Quinn didn't answer, so Rachel did for her.

"Yes, please, I'm paying."

The waiter brought back the menu and hovered over their table whilst they chose. Quinn simply picked a desert smoothie that went by the name of 'fruitful delight,' but Rachel on the other hand chose a vegan pancake, made with soya milk.

Another few minutes passed in silence and then again for the third time that evening the waiter but this time with their deserts and clearing their previous plates.

As they both finished eating, Rachel was the first to talk. It was time to be honest.

"I like you Quinn, I really do."

Quinn couldn't suppress the smile that crept across her face.

Rachel continued, "But the problem with that, is that I'm still with Finn."

"Dump him, and get with Quinn. I bet she's better in bed."

Quinn and Rachel whipped around to be greeted with the sight of Santana.

"How did you know we were here?" Quinn asked incredulously.

"I didn't, I just came to pick up my order of breadstix, and coincidently it was on the same night that you two have a kinky date. I say a kinky date because it can't be a hot date, a hot date actually has to include hot people, which neither of you are minus me; and as none of you are out with me, it can't be classed as a hot date."

"You're order is ready miss," the same young waiter said, addressing Santana. He handed a large box over the counter and Santana picked it up.

"Anyway, I'm off to see Britt to have some lady kisses. By the way Berry you don't half scrub up bad." And with a wave of her hand Santana was out of the door and swallowed into the night.

"She is something else," Rachel said after swallowing a mouthful of water.

Quinn was only half listening as she was still in shock. Rachel giggled as she noticed Quinn's blank expression.

"Earth to Quinn."

Quinn jumped, blushed and apologised.

As the time neared eight thirty, Rachel said that she had to leave as her dad's would instantly assume that she'd secretly met up with Finn to have sex. Quinn cringed at the image of Rachel and Finn having sex but as Rachel wasn't anything but a good friend to Quinn at the moment, she couldn't really say anything.

"I really enjoyed tonight Rachel, but next time I'm paying okay," Quinn said grinning.

"I asked _you _on a date so therefore _I _pay."

"Then will you let me take you out on a date, and then we're even."

"You mean we're just having a second date so you can make it even," Rachel said looking rather upset.

"No, I didn't mean it like that at all." They were standing outside of breakstix and although it was a warm evening the wind seemed to have picked up so both girls had put cardigans on. Quinn took a step closer to Rachel and lifted her chin up, "I want to have a second date with you because I really like you not because we need to be equal."

Rachel blushed but couldn't hide it as Quinn was still holding Rachel's chin.

"I'd like that Quinn, I'll sort the Finn situation out soon I promise."

Quinn just smiled not knowing what to say. A few seconds passed and then Rachel said, "So text me or something when you have something planned."

Quinn promised she would and then kissed Rachel's cheek very softly. Rachel swelled like a balloon inside, her emotions were dancing and singing to her and she couldn't even hear herself think. Before she knew what she was doing she had grabbed Quinn's waist pulled her into a tight embrace and kissed Quinn fully on the lips. Not knowing what was going on Quinn was taken a little by surprise, but once that subsided she began to kiss the brunette back. She wanted to do much more than kiss, but they were standing outside of a now full restaurant and it was only their first date.

Rachel pulled away and mumbled, "Sorry, spur of the moment kind of thing."

Quinn told her not to apologise and said that she liked it. After saying goodbye the girls parted to their different cars. Rachel got in and pulled out of the car park straight away, whereas Quinn just sat in and reminisced in the essence of the last few hours. However, Quinn was quickly pulled out of her trance by her phone vibrating on the dashboard. She'd forgotten she'd left it there.

_Santana text me about you and Berry at breadstix. How was it? Want all the gossip; meet me at the park tomorrow at 10. Love you – Puck _

Quinn quickly punched back a reply.

_Cool see you then, thanks for all the help btw. Love you too – Quinn. _

She genuinely could not wait to tell Puck everything. He had believed in her like no one else had and he was right to. Quinn Fabray had pulled it off, she had spent an evening with the girl she really liked and not one thing had gone wrong, well minus the encounter with Santana, but even Santana kept her sarcastic comments to a minimal.

Quinn was impressed, but more than impressed, for the first time in what felt like forever, she was finally happy.


	14. For the love of sex

**Disclaimer: I do not own glee or any of the characters.**

**Here is another installment, sorry the updates are a bit here and there, lots of work to do but I'm trying my best to update as fast as I can. I hope you enjoy it.**

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><p><strong><span>Chapter 14<span>**

"You look cheerful this morning," Judy said as she poured herself and Quinn a glass of orange juice.

"I feel cheerful this morning," Quinn replied almost radiating happiness.

"Want to talk about it?" Judy asked, a little scared of the answer, but thankfully she was met with Quinn shaking her head and announcing that she was off to meet Puck.

It was a brisk walk that took Quinn to the park quicker than she expected. However, despite being early Puck was already occupying a swing, slowly rocking backwards and forwards. The clouds hung over the small park like a bad omen. Quinn took the swing next to Puck and kicked off with her right foot letting herself swing loosely next to the jock.

Puck seemed lost in his thoughts, which to Quinn, was rather unusual. His Mohawk seemed to have lost its lustre just like the expression on the jocks face. Quinn wasn't sure whether to ask what was wrong or to just let him talk in his own time, but then all of a sudden he silence was broken by a down trodden Puck.

"Do you ever feel like your heart and soul into something hoping for the best possible outcome, yet it just turns to absolute shit?"

A tear fell down Puck's creamy complexion. He turned his head hoping that the blonde sitting next to him hadn't noticed but she had. Wiping the tear away with a swish of his hand he spoke again, trying to seem cheerier than what he let on.

"So how was your hot date?"

"It was a kinky date not a hot date," Quinn said trying to lighten the mood.

Puck looked confused, so Quinn elaborated. "Santana said you can only have a hot date with two hot people, and nor Rachel nor I are hot apparently, anyway not important."

Puck frowned.

"For someone that swings towards chicks Santana hasn't got a damn clue what she is talking about. You and Rachel were the hottest chicks in school. Well along with Brittany and Santana and Mercedes isn't half bad, and I'm just going to stop talking because I'm digging myself a hole so deep that only my Mohawk will poke out of the top."

Quinn laughed; but wasn't fooled by the hearty exterior Puck was putting on, she knew it was something more but she had to play along or she'd never find out.

"It was quite good; it felt natural if that makes sense. I said I'd plan something next time we want to see each other."

Quinn just trailed off with the last part, she knew Puck wasn't listening. Small pools of glistening tears were accumulating at the bottom of Puck's jaw, and then slowly trickling onto his vest top. This time though, he didn't try and hide the fact he was crying. It was almost as if he wanted Quinn to notice. Quinn stopped the momentum of the swing. She didn't turn to look at Puck when she spoke as she didn't want to see the hurt in his eyes. It takes a lot to upset Puck and Quinn didn't want to see him at his most vulnerable point, because if she did, she wouldn't feel safe. As selfish as Quinn felt, she knew Puck understood because he felt the same with her. They seemed to have developed a mutual understanding of the safety they gave towards the other.

"Is it a girl?" Quinn asked in a very blank tone of voice.

"I don't know what to do Quinn? What do I do?" The boy pleaded. At this point in time all Puck felt like was a scared little child who was scared to try and ride a bike for the first time. He wanted to try so much but he was too scared of trying and getting hurt. Tears continued to flow freely from his eyes. Before Quinn answered she tried to think of what could have possibly happened, but this time she was truly stumped and didn't have a clue.

"Everything is falling apart, and no amount of alcohol or sex is going to make this pain go away. Not this time Quinn."

Quinn didn't know how she felt. A rush of emotions came over her. At first she felt helpless to Puck as he was indirectly asking for his help and she had no idea what to do. The next emotion that filled her was love and admiration for the man because he had chosen her to talk to; he'd chosen her to help him. Quinn knew exactly what it was like to have high expectations from everyone and then hide what you really felt. She knew that this was exactly how Puck must have felt. This tugged at Quinn's heart strings, so she jumped off the swing and kneeled in front of him. She still didn't look him in the eyes; she needed to wait until the time was right.

"Whatever is going on, I'll help you with okay, and I'll do my best. You're my best friend but most of all you feel like the brother I never had. You need to tell me what's going on though Puck."

Puck clenched his fists and his knuckles turned bright white, but as soon as he clenched them, he unclenched them again. His head was a mass of emotions and feelings and he didn't know where to start. He bit his tongue and tried to string a few sentences together hoping that they'd make enough sense for Quinn to understand and not need to question it.

"I love her Quinn. She's off with someone else and I can't do anything. He has everything I don't. My family is falling to pieces. We don't have a lot of money and my mum just lost her job. Pool cleaning isn't enough to cover the bills, get food, and pay for education and everything. My sister is only young; she needs a head start in life that none of us got. And there's nothing I can do."

A final stray tear found its way to Puck's chin. Quinn was ready. She lifted her gaze and met with Puck's chocolate brown eyes. His eyes seemed like a murky pool of water, glazed over with ice. His stare wasn't cold, but it wasn't filled with warmth and comfort either. Quinn lifted a finger to the stray tear that was about to drop onto Puck's top and wiped it away. He let out a feeble smile. How could someone so different from himself care so much about him, he thought.

"Life isn't perfect Puckerman but I was a cheerio and you were on the football team, so lets go."

Puck had a puzzled expression on his face.

"What? Where are we going?"

"To get you your woman back and get some money for your family okay?"

Puck snorted. "Yeah right, because everyone is dying to employ me and I'm sure Lauren is going to forgive me after I had sex with someone else when I was meant to be on a date with her."

"Puck, you're dweeb but I will help you. So come on, let's go."

Quinn was now standing with a defiant look on her face and her hand outstretched. No one crossed Quinn when she had a face like that. Puck lazily pulled himself off of the swing and grabbed Quinn's hand. Quinn started to march him off much to Puck's distaste.

"Where are we going?"

Quinn didn't answer.

"What are we doing?"

Still no answer.

"Quinn, for love of sex what are we doing and where are we going?"

To this, Quinn couldn't ignore.

"You are buying me a smoothie and I'm going to sort out your life. Then you're going to help me figure out a date to take Rachel on."

Puck pulled a face, but quickly retreated in doing so as he saw Quinn's vicious glare. If looks could kill he would be dead, Puck thought to himself.

Twenty minutes later they were both seated under the sheltered seating area of the smoothie bar. The weather had turned from bad to appalling. Rain was lashing from the sky like sharp daggers. Luckily they'd got under shelter before it got heavy enough to hurt. Neither Quinn nor Puck wore a jacket, which they both quickly regretted. Puck stared up at the melancholy sky and sighed. What a day this is turning out to be, he thought to himself.

Whilst Puck was amidst in his thoughts, Quinn stared over to her favourite field. The rain morphed the grass into a jade coloured sheet which accompanied the dark grey clouds perfectly. Little water droplets formed on each peak of grass and the tree's in the distance swayed silently in the slightly breeze. On the horizon the sky and grass danced together perfectly in a misty haze of colours and textures. _Beautiful_, Quinn thought, little did she know however, she spoke her last thought a loud.

"It is beautiful. Who knew something that brought back so many bad memories could be so beautiful all at the same time."

"Your words stun me Puckerman," Quinn teased.

He smiled. His smile didn't reach his eyes but it was a start. He was trying.

"You really love her don't you," Quinn said squeezing Puck's hand from across the table.

"Yeah I do, but I screwed up big time Quinn. It was my last chance and I managed to have sex with someone I didn't know on the supposedly most romantic night of my life."

"Yes, you were a muppet I'm not denying that but we can fix it."

Pucks eyes lit up slightly. "You really think we can?"

"Yeah, why not. We can try at least. I'll text her to meet her, and instead of meeting me she'll be meeting you."

"Um, how does that work if you're going to be, oh, I get it, don't worry," he blushed.

The waitress brought over two _Cranberry Crunches's_ and then left them to it.

They sipped their ice cold drinks in silence. Neither knew what to say, and then suddenly a light bulb appeared in her head.

"Wait here," she told Puck.

A little bewildered Puck nodded. Quinn walked swiftly to the counter and began a conversation with the waitress who jut served them. Puck hadn't got a clue what was going on, he'd got a smoothie? He didn't need anything else? Did he? No, of course he didn't, why was he questioning himself, he thought. Ten minutes or so passed and then Quinn trotted back to the table with a huge grin plastered across her face.

"You totally just chatted her up didn't you? She's quite hot you know. I wouldn't mind having a go."

Quinn's grin turned to a frown. "Look, you want Lauren back so stop thinking of other women for just one moment; please?"

"Okay, fine," Puck said reluctantly.

"You start next Monday."

"Come again," Puck asked.

"You, Noah Puckerman, start work, here, next Friday, do you copy that?"

"Alright sarcy arse," Puck retaliated.

Quinn was quite pleased with herself. She had asked if any jobs were going and the waitress said they were really short staffed at the moment as one of the other waitress's was off giving birth. The job wasn't permanent but changes could be made if Puck put in enough effort.

The atmosphere between the two seemed much lighter and happier now that Puck had half solved one of his problems, but he still wasn't sure how on earth he was going to start with the other one. Quinn noticed the questioning look on his face and answered it almost at once.

"Take one step at a time okay, your family comes first okay."

Puck couldn't disagree with this, his family meant everything to him, and even if he abused every rule his mother made for him.

"Okay babe, now let's solve this Berry big problem that you've got."

Quinn snorted into her drink as she realised the pun Puck had just made.

"What?" he asked incredulously, "It was funny."

"Goddamn hilarious," she sighed but still had a Cheshire cat smile plastered onto her face

"I was going to cook for her, but she's vegan and I don't know the first thing about them."

"You make it sound like they are a dying species or something, probably are but still."

Quinn frowned and Puck apologised.

"I have an idea," Puck said after another few minutes of silence, which was only broken by the sounds of slurping and drinking smoothies.

After Puck explained what his idea was, Quinn clapped in excitement.

"That is the best idea I think you have ever had! But are you sure? I mean, I don't want to feel like I'm intruding or anything."

"It's fine, I wanted to help and I am."

"Lauren is very unlucky Puck, if I were straight and looked and acted like Santana I'd probably offer you complimentary sex as a congratulations for such a genius idea, but as I'm none of the above, it's not going to happen, sorry."

Puck sighed jokily and Quinn playfully punched him.

She couldn't be happier; Puck had just given her the basis of the perfect date. All she needed to do now was set it up and tell Rachel. Quinn just couldn't contain her excitement and whipped her phone out from her bag punching in a hurried text.

'_Got perfect date, I'll pick you up Friday at 6:30, no excuses.'_

Rachel didn't reply, but Quinn had a gut feeling that everything was going to be perfect. Little did she know however, that within twenty miniutes time Rachel was to drop a bombshell making Quinn question everything.

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><p><strong>Thank-you for all the comments and reviews and stuff, they mean a lot and more would be very welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for sticking with this story, it does have a direction even if it doesn't seem like it yet. Enjoy (:<br>**


	15. Lost

**Disclaimer: I do not own glee or any of the characters.**

**Here is another installment for you, I hope you enjoy it. Comments and reviews are much welcomned. (:  
>Thankyou- for your continuous support. (:<strong>

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><p><strong><span>Chapter 15<span>**

"You slept with Finn fucking Hudson!" Quinn shouted incredulously for the tenth time.

Rachel just stood in front of Quinn showing no emotions. This hurt Quinn more than Rachel showing emotion, because it was as if Rachel didn't regret it. Did she even care about Quinn at all? They went on their first date a few days ago and Quinn had just planned their second date. What is this, Quinn thought to herself? I thought this was something special? Once again, Quinn Fabray was so far from the truth that it made her feel physically sick.

"So you went all the way? Like completely?" Quinn asked, still trying to get her head around the situation.

"I had sexual intercourse Quinn, as many times as you say it, it won't make it go away," Rachel replied, her face expressionless, but her eyes, her eyes were cold, her eyes told Quinn that she had no regrets.

Quinn tried to hold back her tears. They were standing in Rachel's driveway.

_Both her dad's had gone out and after Quinn had text Rachel about their next date, instead of replying with an expected 'can't wait' Quinn got a reply of, 'Need to see you.' At first Quinn was worried that something had happened to the diva, maybe she was hurt or upset. Quinn prepared herself for the worst, but hoping to God that Rachel hadn't been in some kind of car collision. Then it struck Quinn that she can't be hurt because she text her. _

_After Quinn received the text from Rachel she'd hugged Puck and said she was off to see Rachel, he said he'd text Quinn later to find out what happened. Quinn was grateful at how interested he was in her life despite the problems he had of his own. Walking to Rachel's Quinn still prepared herself for the worse as the text seemed very blunt and very serious. But however much preparing Quinn had done, it was nowhere near enough to be prepared for this. She hadn't even got to the door and it swung open. Rachel stood their looking as gorgeous as ever in a tight black and white dress and a black bow in her hair which flowed in chocolate locks down her back. Rachel had asked Quinn if she wanted to sit down but Quinn started to get more and more agitated and said that she just wanted to know what was going on. _

Quinn rocked backwards and forwards on the spot speechless. Questions filled Quinn's head; it felt like it was going to burst. She didn't know what to do. She wanted to run, as fast as she could, and not stop. She wanted to run past everyone, past everything that reminded her of Rachel, but her feet were rooted to the ground. She wanted to say something, anything, but her mouth just opened and closed soundlessly. She wanted to hurt Rachel like she'd just hurt her but somewhere in her heart Quinn still deeply cared for the brunette girl standing emotionless in front of her.

After what felt like forever Quinn managed to utter a few words, but questions still rung in her head, and her brain pounded at her to get the answers.

"Why?"

"He was romantic, and it felt right."

Quinn snorted.

"So if any guy was romantic you'd jump into their pants?"

Quinn knew this was unfair but she was so enraged that she didn't care.

"No, I wouldn't, but what Finn and I have is real okay. It's real," Rachel made a large emphasis on the word _real_.

A single, stray, cold tear rolled down Quinn's cheek. It felt as if she'd fallen off the top of the pyramid in cheerio's practise over and over again. She felt winded and unable to talk. She felt hurt but at the same time wanted to push on through it, she knew Rachel didn't mean it, right?

"You don't mean it Rach, you don't."

Quinn advanced to the brunette, but the brunette folded her arms and took a step backwards. What was this? What the hell was going on? Was this a dream? She wished it was a dream, Quinn would like nothing more than to wake up and realise that she hadn't met up with Puck yet, that Rachel hadn't told her about Finn and herself and that everything was going to be just fine.

"I think you should leave Quinn."

Quinn wiped the tear away and no longer cared what she felt. It didn't matter what she felt anymore because he heart had just been ripped out of her chest, jumped on a couple of times and put straight back in again.

"You asked me here and I am not leaving until you tell me what the hell is going on," Quinn demanded.

Rachel kept up her defensive stance, took a deep breath and began to explain. The entire time she spoke she knew she was hurting the blonde, but she just couldn't stop herself from talking, she knew what she felt for Quinn wasn't real, they'd had an intimate moment at the party and she got caught up in it that was all. That's all it was.

"I'll elaborate for you Quinn. I went to Finn's house, he cooked us dinner, and we watched a movie. We started to talk and things got intimate and…"

Rachel stopped noticing the tears forming in Quinn's eyes again.

"Okay, stop, I get it. You had sex with Frankenteen. But I know for a fact the bit about dinner wasn't true. Everyone knows that Finn can't remember your favourite colour, let alone that you're a vegan."

Rachel knew Quinn was right but she wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of admitting defeat. She knew what she felt and she did _not _have feelings for Quinn.

"I hope we can be friends again," Rachel said blankly.

Once again Quinn wiped the tears from her cheek. Her heart started to beat slower and slower. She felt faint. She felt as if she was slipping away. She felt as if her heart had just physically been broken in such a way that it could no longer function properly. Quinn pulled herself together knowing that the conversation couldn't last much longer, and once it was over, she would run.

"You hope we can be friends again? I put my heart on a plate and basically handed it to you. It feels like you took that plate and cherished the heart upon it for a little while and then got bored so you used it as a football. You kicked it once and thought that it was more fun than you originally thought, so you kept kicking it and kicking it until it was just a wreck and no use anymore. You then put what _was _my heart back onto the plate and slid it over the table, not daring to give it to me by your own god forsaken hand. I was willing to give you everything. Now I have nothing to give because you ripped it from under my feet. You hope we can be friends, I hoped for more than that, and now it's not going to happen. Ever."

Quinn could barely see through the tears now gushing from her eyes. Empty, was the perfect word to describe how Quinn felt. Rachel had everything that Quinn was willing to give and Rachel crushed it. She turned to walk away from Rachel as she reached the path at the bottom of the drive Rachel called Quinn's name. She didn't turn, but she listened. She hoped that Rachel was going to say she was sorry for sleeping with Finn and that it was a mistake; even if Rachel said sorry she was confused about how she felt, it would have been better than nothing but instead Rachel really rubbed salt into the wound.

"I love him Quinn. I love _him_. You just got the wrong idea that's all."

Her legs felt like lead but she didn't care. She dragged them along one step at a time, slowly getting faster and faster, within a few minutes she was running, running full pelt, block after block after block. She ran past her own house, she ran past the smoothie bar, she just kept running. Quinn hadn't got a clue where she was going but running felt right, just like having sex with Finn had felt _right_.

When Quinn finally stopped she surprised herself. She didn't realise how much her cheerio training would pay off in the future. It was getting dark. The night was drawing nearer and was slowly engulfing everything in view. Quinn pulled out her phone and checked the time. 6:30. She'd expected it to be later than that. At first she wondered why on earth it was so dark. She looked around and noticed that she was surrounded by trees and woodland. Shit, she thought to herself. If she was lost she was screwed, her phone was flashing red with a low battery but beyond that she hadn't got a signal.

Above her the stormy grey clouds had parted revealing a deep sapphire coloured sky. The sun was slowly setting leaving a merge of colours on the horizon and the red tinged afterglow illuminated the sky with a pink tinge. The tree's weren't tall, just your average sized park type tree. The leaves were an array of different colours. Some bright green whilst others were a much darker green. A few leaves were scattered along the ground of which Quinn walked on, but other than that it was just hard mud and a lot of sticks and twigs.

The sticks crunched beneath Quinn's feet and each time she snapped a large branch she jumped, turning her body around to see if anyone was behind her. She wasn't scared of the dark; she was scared of what it hid. As a child she was fearless but now that she was no longer naïve to the cruelties of life, she feared many things. Quinn continued to walk through the tree's trying to find open ground so she may be able to pin point where she was, but the more she walked, the more lost she got. After thirty minutes of endless walking, Quinn realised that she'd past the same old tree stump at least three times. This time she stopped and sat down upon it. It was cold and slightly damp but she didn't care. She was tired and just didn't care.

Her heart rate had slowed down a lot. When she was at Rachel's she felt herself almost passing out, she couldn't cope with the information. One day Rachel wanted to be with her, the next she lost her virginity to Finn Hudson. In some ways Quinn was still convinced it was a dream, but as she was shielded from everyone's view she took this opportunity to pinch herself.

"Ow," she mouthed. Definitely not a dream.

All of a sudden the thoughts of Rachel vanished from her head and a much more daunting prospect emerged. If she was lost, in woods that she didn't know, god knows how many miles from home, with low battery and no signal, how the hell was she going to get found, let alone get home? She started to panic; she looked to the sky of which was now a dark shade of purple. White specs danced in the sky as if they'd been left their as a mere after thought. Pretty, Quinn thought. At least if she had to stay there over night she had something pretty to look at.

_Crack_.

Quinn jumped off of the tree stump and whipped around. Terrified she backed herself up against a tree, hoping that whoever had made the noise would only come from one side, then she realised that there wasn't a flat wall, and that she couldn't hide. She ran, she didn't care if the noise was two rampant squirrels having sex; she just needed to get out of there. After running for another ten minutes Quinn collapsed.

Shattered, Quinn closed her eyes and everything went black.

_Beep Beep Beep._

"Go away mum," Quinn yelled, not knowing what on earth was going on.

_Beep Beep Beep._

Quinn's sense began to kick in and she realised that she was yelling. Why was she yelling what was going on. Was that grass she could smell? Yes, definitely grass. Something was tickling her nose. Quinn struggled but slowly opened her eyes. It was pitch black, but feeling beneath her with her hands she knew she was lying on damp grass.

_Beep Beep Beep._

Signal, Quinn thought. She tore her phone out of her pocket. It was still flashing red, so she turned the brightness down hoping to save the batteries life just a little bit longer. Eight missed calls and eleven messages. Seven of the calls were from her mum and the eighth was from Puck, it was the most recent one. Her phone read three am. She must have fallen asleep, she thought to herself. She opened up each text one by one, the majority of them were from her mother asking where the hell she was, but the ninth text confused her, it read, "_Next time tell me you're staying at Pucks, don't do anything stupid, love you."_

She wasn't at Pucks, what was going on? Quinn read the next text and then suddenly everything clicked into place. The tenth text read, _"Quinn, you're worrying me, your mum just rang asking where you were, saying she hadn't seen you since that morning. I panicked; I told her you were sleeping at mine. Text me when you get this."_

Quinn felt warm tears caress her cheeks. None of this was meant to have happened, none of it. She felt so bad. After wiping away her tears she clicked on the last text. Her heart stopped. It was from Rachel.

"_Noah rang me asking me where you were, I said I didn't know and assumed you went home, but he said you hadn't. I'm worried Quinn. If you don't get in touch with anyone in an hour Noah and I will come looking for you."_

Quinn almost laughed at the text, after everything Rachel had said to her earlier on, she knew that she wasn't worried at all; she just didn't want to get into Noah's bad books. One thing that did make Quinn smile at was Rachel's excellent use of full sentences and grammar within her texts, no one else in their right mind would bother to do that. She looked at the time the last text had been sent. 1:30. It was now nearing half past three. If Rachel was telling the truth her and Puck would be looking for her, but Quinn herself hadn't got a clue where she was, so how the hell would they know.

Her phone beeped and flashed again. Santana was calling her.

"Where the fucking hell are you Q!" Santana shouted down the phone.

Quinn couldn't help but break down, she was so happy to hear the latina's voice. They hadn't spoken since the party which was nearly a week and a half ago.

"Don't cry Q, I'm not good with emotions, Puck and I are coming to get you okay."

These last words made Quinn pull herself together. What about Rachel she thought?

"Is Rachel with you?" Quinn asked.

"Why would the smurf be with us?"

Quinn's heart dropped, just another lie that had protruded from Rachel Berry's mouth.

"No reason. When you say 'with us' who is 'us'?" Quinn asked expectantly.

"Me, Brit and Puck. Where are you Q we've looked everywhere?"

"I um, I really don't know Santana. It's dark, and I'm sitting on grass next to some woods, it's all I know."

"Pull yourself together Q, stand up and look around, walk a little bit."

Quinn could hear puck and Brittany in the background of Santana and hers conversation.

Puck said that he'd just pulled over and was reading a map, scanning area's they hadn't covered. A few minutes of silence and then Santana spoke again.

"We've been everywhere, the only other woodland area is about 3 miles outside of Lima, please tell me you aren't that far Q?"

Quinn began to panic again. What if she was that far outside of Lima? What if they could never find her. Her breathing became quicker and quicker and Santana noticed.

"Look, I'm worried Q but Brit does the feelings okay, not me, I'll pas you onto her."

"Santana stopped out sweet lady kisses to come and find you, that's how much she cares."

Quinn heard Santana snort and slap Brittany at the other end of the phone. It calmed Quinn down a bit; she knew that Santana did care, even if she hadn't spoken to her for over a week.

"It'll be okay Q, promise."

There was a kafuffle and suddenly Santana was talking again. "Puck says he's going to drive to the woodland place a few miles out of Lima and check their okay, do not go off the phone."

"My battery is dying Santana I can't."

"Okay, um, Quinn walk around see if you can find water, be careful though."

Quinn stood up and began to walk very cautiously in a straight line, she stopped, too scared to continue.

"Q? Quinn? Talk to me Quinn."

Quinn could hear the worry and concern in Santana's voice. It was getting incredibly serious now.

"The place we are heading to has a stream running next to it, see if you can find water. You can do it Quinn; you weren't a fearless head bitch for nothing…"

But Santana was cut off by a loud splashing sound.

"QUINN" Santana yelled, Quinn talk to me, but the phone went dead.

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><p><strong>I wonder what happens next, will they find her in time? Or will Rachel feel guilty for never saying what she actually felt before it was too late.<strong>

**Thankyou for reading this and keeping up with me so far, it means a lot and the comments and reviews really help. (:**


	16. Off for a swim

**Disclaimer: I do not own glee or any of the characters  
><strong>

**This is my first fanfiction so I'd like to apologise for any spelling mistakes, gramatical errors, confusing plots etc etc. This is just a short chapter that I hope will explain the randomness and confusing emotions of the previous chapters. In the next chapter or so, the story will be just based around Quinn and Rachel, but before I could do that I needed to base a bit of the story around Quinn and Pucks friendship.**

**Thankyou for sticking with it, and I hope this chapter helped those who are confused etc.**

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><p><strong><span>Chapter 16<span>**

"What's going on" Puck asked frantically, "What's happened."

Santana removed the phone from her ear as all she could hear was a buzzing sound. She was shaking and unable to speak. Brittany held the latina's hand and rubbed her back trying to sooth her enough to talk.

"She," Santana gulped, a tear sliding down a perfectly soft skin, "I told her to, walk," she took a deep breath, she could do this. "I told her to find water and then there was a splash and it went dead. It's my fault Puck it's my fault."

Both Puck and Brittany reassured the latina that everything was going to be fine. They neared the entrance to the nature reserve that they had been studying on the map. Santana said she recognised it and as a child she and Quinn used to come here. Santana lead Puck and Brittany (whose hands were intertwined with Santana's) down a winding narrow path. Puck was all for running straight through the woods but the latina assured him that the vastness of the woods would more than definitely ensure his loss as well as Quinn's.

It took the trio roughly ten minutes to find the clearing of tree's in which they were heading. Ahead of them Puck heard trickles of water and began to pick up his pace. Within a few seconds he was running and shouting to the pair behind him saying that he needed help.

"She's here, Santana, Brit come on!"

The girls raced on and were welcomed with an unearthly sight. Quinn was drenched from head to foot. Her once dry and curly hair was now wet and matted. She spluttered and slowly opened her eyes as she could feels the presence of others. Three dark figures loomed over her and a wry grin crept across her face.

"You've either saved me, or I'm dead in hell, with the devil and his inmates."

Both Puck and Santana laughed whilst Brittany just knelt next to the blonde looking confused.

"Fancy a late night swim did you? Good job you weren't skinny dipping, I may not be responsible for my actions if you were," Santana joked, while winking at Quinn.

Quinn sat up but then collapsed into Puck's arms. He removed the matted hair out of her hairs, took of his jacket and put it around the blonde who was now shivering violently.

"Who knew you cared," Quinn said to Santana.

Santana blushed but kept up her bitchy appearance, "Watch your mouth tubbers, I can easily throw you back in the river."

"She's our friend Santana, one person can only like swimming with ducks so much," Brittany piped up.

Puck and Quinn giggled while Santana just rolled her eyes. Puck and Santana helped the blonde up and let her get her balance. "Let's get you out of here," Puck said, eyeing the perimeter wearily.

"Puck isn't scared is he," Santana said, bringing up the rear and they trudged back through the forest.

"No the Puckmeister isn't scared," but as he finished talking Quinn jabbed him in the ribs and said, "You promised you'd stop calling yourself stupid names." Puck apologised and the rest of the walk was ensued in silence.

As the trio neared the truck, Puck jogged up ahead and unlocked it. Quinn was helped up into the truck first, followed by Brittany.

"Oh look, no room Santana you'll have to sit in the back with the cleaning kits."

"You make me sit back there and I'll make sure your man hood is cleaned with the sharpest cleaning implement you own, got it Puck?"

Puck shifted on the spot, slightly worried about what Santana might do to him. The journey back was ensued in silence once again, Brittany had offered her lap to Santana who reluctantly (not) accepted. The first to be dropped home were Santana and Brittany. Santana had a free house for a couple of days so the pair was not going to pass up an opportunity of sweet lady kisses. Santana jumped off of Brittany and out of the truck, Brittany then followed and they linked pinkies. Just before Santana slammed the door shut, she spoke to Quinn.

"If I ever have to stop getting my groove on with Brittany again because you decide to go for a 5 mile run and then a swim in a random river, I will not be impressed, got it tubbers?"

Quinn laughed, "Yes, got it."

Santana smiled and said, "Glad you're okay though," before slamming the door and heading to her front door with Brittany.

Puck and Quinn just sat in the truck in silence for a few minutes before heading off.

"Rachel told me everything and I'm so sorry Quinn. I don't know if this will help, but I asked Finn about it and he said she didn't seem to enjoy it at all."

Quinn raised her hand waving him into silence. The last image she needed in her head was Rachel and Finn _getting their groove on_ as Santana liked to call it.

"I got a call from her saying she wanted to find me, another lie though."

Puck shifted in his seat and braked as they came up to a set of traffic lights. Quinn eyed him suspiciously.

"What did you do Puck?"

"Well, after she told me what happened I was kind of pissed at her and refused to let her come with us; and by that time I'd already told Santana what had happened to you and she said if she saw the smurf she wouldn't be responsible for any of her actions.

"What did Santana say about Rachel and me?" Quinn wondered.

"She was pretty understanding about it. She saw you at breadstix the other night and just sussed from then. However, she was rather pissed when I told her how Rachel had bummed you out."

Quinn smiled, good old protective Santana, she thought to herself.

Puck pulled up in front of Quinn's house.

"Just say you left mine early, oh and um, Quinn sort yourself out you look like someone tried to drown you."

"Always the charmer, aren't you Puck."

He grinned and then spoke again.

"I tried talking to Lauren and it didn't work. I'm going away with my mum and sister for a couple of weeks; it'll clear my head and that. I'll text and write and stuff and I'll be back before the summer is out and we can have another big glee party again."

The pair smiled. Their mutual understanding was once again met by their eyes. Neither had to say anything and they both knew it was going to be okay.

"What about the job?" Quinn asked.

"I've still got pool cleaning for the moment, so I just told them that I couldn't do it. Finn is applying to work in there instead."

"Great, where will I get smoothies from now without having him man handling the ingredients before I drink it?"

Puck laughed heartily. "Don't give up with Rachel, I lost my chance, but you still have one okay. Remember the plan for the date on Friday? You can still do it."

"You're not here so I can't," Quinn interupted.

"Yeah you can, mum wants someone to drop in every now and then to check it hasn't been robbed or anything, so I suggested you. She wasn't too pleased with the idea but she couldn't find anyone else at such short notice."

Quinn pulled Puck into an awkward hug.

"Thank-you. I'll be careful I promise. I won't have any parties in it and if anything happens between me and Rachel I'll burn all your sheets, okay?"

Puck frowned jokingly. He reached into his pocket and handed Quinn a set of keys. He pointed at them each individually explaining what they fitted.

"Back door, front door, conservatory, basement, attic and shed."

"I think I'll only need the front door key but thanks all the same."

Quinn and Puck jumped out of the truck simultaneously. Walking around the side of the truck puck had a sheepish grin on his face. Quinn questioned it but got no response. They said their goodbyes, hugged and Quinn thanked Puck for everything. Just before Puck got back in the truck he kissed Quinn on the cheek and whispered in her ear, "You and Rachel are perfect for each other, so go get your girl."

Laughing at Pucks words she said, "And this has nothing to do with the fact you enjoy girl on girl fantasies?"

"Well that would be telling wouldn't it," he replied as he got back into the truck. He blew a kiss to Quinn out of the window and promised he'd write, and with that he revved the engine and Puck's truck was gone.

Quinn walked to the front door pondering over what Puck had said. Had he really meant that Rachel and herself were perfect for each other? Once the door was quietly unlocked, Quinn tiptoed to her room and flung herself on her bed. She didn't care that she was damp still or that her hair looked like a birds nest, all she cared about was the three friends that came to her rescue when she needed them the most. She wasn't going to give up on Rachel. She wasn't going to give up on anything. Quinn was going to _get her girl_ as Puck had kindly phrased it. First thing in the morning she was going to text Rachel that the date was still on, if Rachel didn't show then she knew there was no hope, but if she did, then it would be another date amidst hopefully more to come.

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><p><strong>Hope you enjoyed it (:<br>Comment and reviews?**


	17. A second chance?

**Disclaimer: I do not own glee or any of the characters.**

**Sorry it's taken so long to update, I've had a lot of work and stuff going on, from now on hopefully I'll start updating quicker. Thanks for sticking with the story. This is just another short installment, not much drama, but be prepared for the next few chapters.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 17<strong>_  
><em>

_Beep Beep Beep._

Rachel opened her eyes groggily and squinted as blinding light poured in through her window. Never had she remembered sleeping in this late before, but then again never had she remembered pacing her room half the night wondering if Quinn or Puck or if anyone was going to text her about what was going on. At about four in the morning Rachel had finally crashed out on her bed, fully clothed not knowing whether Quinn was safe or not.

Rolling over she reached for her phone which was tucked away in the drawer next to her bed, the battery was flashing red but she needed to read the text in case any important news was available to her.

An unknown number was flashing repeatedly on Rachel's screen. At first she was hesitant to read it, but in the end she didn't really have much choice.

_Change of plan. Meet me at Puck's 6:30 Friday. Your choice to show or not. __**– Q**_

A little bewildered from the text Rachel stifled through various thoughts and emotions in her head to try and find some sort of recognition of what had just happened. Was Quinn giving her a chance to explain? A second chance? What? What was it? She needed to know, she had to find out. Pulling her thoughts back together and closing the various open boxes in her mind Rachel clicked on _reply_ and started to key back a message.

After several re-wordings and deletions of the texts Rachel finally found the appropriate form of response to Quinn's _offer_.

_Thank-you and I'll take your kind offer into consideration __**– R**_

A typical Rachel Berry response; a concoction of long words and a few subtle hints of longing and happiness irradiating from Quinn's offer.

Rachel went about the first half her day mulling over the same emotions in her head over and over again. It gave her a headache just thinking about it, and when she put it into a realistic context her stomach twisted into tight knots and as she tried to the contemplate the concept of liking someone more than a friend more and more, the throbbing pains in her head and the tightening knots caused her to finally stop and do something about it. How on earth was she meant to work out how she truly felt for Quinn? Of course she didn't mean what she'd said to her and the sex with Finn, well, it was unbelievably awkward. Not only did Rachel not want it, Finn wasn't totally convinced with it either.

The aftermath of _sex_ with Finn had been far less than satisfactory. Rachel tried to relate her emotions to that in the movies, where they wake up feeling amazing and the afterglow lingers for the entire day making them feel happy and free, instead Rachel had felt stupid and ridiculously embarrassed. Usually Rachel put all of her effort into dramatic singing, with Finn however, she'd put all her might and effort into faking an orgasm. Feeling not at all happy with what she had done, she was slightly appeased with Finn's behaviour. Although he'd thought of _mailman_ twice in the first five minutes he'd believed that the orgasm was real and he seemed to comfort the brunette afterwards. It wasn't the first time they'd had sex yet it was definitely worse than their first time.

As Rachel carried on thinking about it, the knots unravelled themselves and fell to a pile of stringy gunge at the pit of her stomach. The idea of having sex with Finn, whilst potentially having _feelings_ for Quinn all tangled up with conscious guilt was almost too much for Rachel to handle; but what really pushed her over the edge was her father's.

The evening before they'd both asked why Rachel had only been in her room, once again they'd blamed Finn, but Finn could hardly be blamed for Rachel staying in her room for her encounter with _Quinn_ and Rachel's decision to not eat her scrambled tofu. Anyway, she'd only spent a few hours in her room so she told her dad's that she simply wasn't hungry and just felt like a quiet evening. Reluctantly they stopped the questioning but at any opportunity they got their hands on they would check up on Rachel and tried to embed questions about her feelings within casual conversations.

Following Rachel's emotional roller coaster, she decided fresh air should be in order; maybe it would rid her throbbing headache. Wrenching the charger from under her bed, she plugged her phone in grabbed her purse, threw it in her bag and left the house with a loud, "Be-back-soon-don't-worry-bye" to her dad's.

The fresh air rushed into Rachel's body through every visible orifice. Elated with the subtle breeze and astoundingly brisk walk Rachel found her headache slowly ebbing away and her spirits being lifted. Where to go, she thought to herself. Shopping required too much money spending and meeting other people would complete defeat the object of clearing her head. At the precise moment of thinking of clearing her head, the emotions and thoughts began crowding her again; like bacteria infesting out of date food. Throbbing once more her head swayed backwards and forwards, weighted with the thoughts that shouldn't be there.

The aroma of coffee filled Rachel's nostrils and calmed her and her hideous thoughts as she entered the small coffee shop on the corner of the street a few blocks from her house. The café itself was relatively empty but Rachel still sat as far away as possible from anyone, the more human interference she got, the harder it would be to keep a clear mind. Rachel scanned the menu a few times, she'd only ever walked past this particular café before, she was more prone into wining and dining at posh restaurants or ordering a cafe mocha from Starbucks to take away for when she used to journey to school. Subtle café's like these weren't the norm for a day in the life of Rachel Berry. After her eyes darted up and down the drinks side of the menu a couple more times, Rachel finally decided on her usual: cafe mocha.

As the steaming thick creamy drink was placed in front of her ten minutes after ordering, Rachel's once desolate mind was becoming clouded and misty with emotions and unanswered questions. She sat silently, staring out of the window from the corner seat she was sitting in. Despite being sat at a two seated table, she sat alone. The few others that occupied the café sat accompanied by friends, partners, siblings or children. People filed in and out at regular intervals but rarely stopped to take a seat, they'd make their order, hang around for a couple of minutes and then leave once they were served. Rachel wasn't overly surprised that the café was practically empty; the weather outside was scorching and for children and families, staying in Lima in conditions such as these were almost unheard of.

After a few more minutes of procrastinating Rachel finally decided to take a sip of her now cooling drink before she attempted to assemble and order her thoughts. The thick liquid trickled down the back of her throat and warmed her core from the inside outwards. Sighing, Rachel reached into her bag and found a notepad, she always found ordering her thoughts was much easier to do if everything was written down, and more often than not; colour coded. Holding the notepad in her left hand she thrust her hand into her jeans pocket and pulled out a black ink pen. Why she carried around an expensive ink pen she hadn't a clue, her only answer when people asked her was: I'm Rachel Berry.

Flipping the cover of the notepad over, Rachel began to scribble. Minutes that felt like hours passed incredibly slowly. Rachel became more and more frustrated and once she finished her beverage she slammed it back onto its coaster a little harder than planned as a few eyes turned to pry on Rachel's doings and the dregs of her drink flew up and over the sides of the mug. Despite her annoyance she still managed to thrive in the fact that it was possibly the best café mocha she'd ever had the pleasure to try. The creamy milk was made in perfect proportion to the espresso shot and the chocolate. It was thicker than any mocha she'd had before, and she put this down to the chocolate being a sauce instead of a powder.

Rachel ordered another drink (the same as before) and stared back at her notepad as if she saw straight through it. Her head was filled with so much junk she hadn't known where to start, so she started with the most obvious yet tedious thing or should she say situation.

_Finn/__Quinn_

These were the only words written in the middle of the piece of paper, a few ink blots comforted the crumpled corners of the pages, but other than that the paper was pure and unchartered. Just looking at the words on the page made Rachel melt to the seat, she felt herself get hot and flustered. She was so full of guilt, yet so frightened and in all of that were still feelings of the unknown. Rachel's second drink was served just as she'd drawn an arrow pointing downwards from Finn's name. The page now read Finn and Quinn's name with an arrow accompanying the words _"Needs to be dealt with."_

In all honesty Rachel wasn't sure how she was going to deal with Finn. When it came to emotions Rachel was full of them fit to burst, yet Finn felt nothing and never understood Rachel's. She needed to end it with him, maybe then she'd be able to think _straight_. She downed the last of her mocha, paid and left the café just as full of angst as she had entered. Walking back to her house, Rachel realised that she hadn't really accomplished anything; all she knew is that she needed to end it with Finn to make things more clear. However, the most important thing Rachel needed to know was if she had feelings for Quinn or not. Originally she thought she had, but she was convinced she'd confused those feelings with care and compassion, she just needed to know what it was.

Throwing her belongings on her bed, Rachel remembered that her phone was still charging. She pulled it from its charger and realised that once again it was flashing. Opening the text Rachel gasped, the same unknown number which she'd assumed was Quinn's had text her saying, "_Everyone deserves a second chance."_

Feeling elated Rachel decided not to respond as she didn't want to screw up her probable last chance with Quinn by sending back a completely pointless and desperate text. No, hold up, why was Rachel suddenly feeling like this? It was one text? Why was she almost jumping for joy that Quinn was giving her another chance? What was this? Her once existing and then non existing headache had returned again. Another confusing wave of emotions filled Rachel and tears filled her eyes. It was all so confusing. There was so much that Rachel was unsure of, not just unsure of, but scared of. _If_ she liked Quinn, what would happen then? She'd never liked someone of the same sex before; she had nothing against it at all as she had two gay dads, but they'd never talked of confusion and heartache. They made it sound like it was a walk in the park, which it certainly wasn't.

As tears poured down Rachel's face her frustration over powered her so and threw her phone against the wall to watch it smash into pieces. This only made her hurt and cry more, but she thought and concluded that if she destroyed everything around her, the feelings would go away. There was no one to talk to. The majority of the glee club didn't like her, Puck was away and even if Finn wasn't useless with emotions, she was supposed to be breaking up with him, so that was another dead end. Grabbing a tissue off her dressed, Rachel dabbed at her tears and pulled herself together. She was irritable from lack of sleep and the caffeine from the café mocha clearly hadn't been enough to wake her up more. A walk was what she needed. No not a walk, she just needed to get away, she felt claustrophobic.

People poured in and out of the huge glass doors. It made Rachel feel dizzy. After a few minutes of contemplating, she plucked up the courage and stepped out of her car. The talking and laughter filled her ears and it somewhat lifted her spirits. She no longer felt weighed down by her troubles; the sight and sound of other people's happiness raised the general atmospheres happiness too. Walking through the doors nothing had changed, the desk was situated in exactly the same place; the toilets were still on the right hand side of it and this entirety made Rachel smile. The colour scheme had been altered but other than that, the sea life centre was exactly the same as Rachel remembered it. Exactly the same; and it made her feel at ease.

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><p><strong>Reviews and comments are welcomed, they really help me write. (:<strong>

**Thankyou for bearing with the story and sorry it's taken me so long to update once again.  
><strong>

**Next chapter: Rachel is in for a shock as well as Judy.**


	18. A little shock

**Disclaimer: I do not own glee or any of the characters. **This chapter is quite long so I apologise in advance. Firstly I'd like to thank everyone who has put this as a story alert or added me as an author alert etc, it really helps build my confidence as I write this. Secondly I'd like to thank those people who have commented to far, constructive criticism always helps when writing so I really appreciate it thank-you.

Writing this chapter I tried my best to capture both Rachel's and Quinn's emotions but it's incredibly hard to do, so I tried my best and I'm sorry if it's disappointing to anyone who reads it.

Once again thank-you for all your help, reviews, alerts etc. It means a lot and I hope you enjoy the chapter. (:

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><p><strong><span>Chapter 18<span>**

Excitement welled in the pit of Rachel's stomach. She hadn't been here in nearly a year, so it was time for her annual visit again. Usually her visit would be around the time of her birthday, but this just couldn't wait. Rachel walked cautiously towards the desk to be greeted by a young rather handsome young man. He resembled a slightly older and slightly shorter looking Finn. His hair was longer a little longer than Finn's and was gelled into a Mohawk that distinctly reminded her of Puck. The light streaming through the glass doors was reflected in sapphire pools which replaced the young man's eyes. His gruff tenor made him seem much smarter and more sophisticated than most men of his age would be. A little goatee was forming on his chin, but the rest of his face was completely clean shaven apart from thick bushy brown eyebrows perched just above the lakes of blue.

"Hello madam, may I be of any assistance to you?"

His voice melted into Rachel's head like chocolate in heat. Lost in his words Rachel imagined that this is exactly how her first boyfriend would have looked and acted, however, she was severely mistaken. Finn wasn't a letdown at all, but as a child everybody dreams too big and everybody comes crashing down at different points in time. Pulling herself together Rachel articulated a perfect response.

"Actually, your assistance may be of help, I'm looking for a co-worker of yours. She goes by the name of Mable Kitson?"

The man standing before her looked a little confused as if Rachel was talking in a foreign language. He took a couple of minutes to process her request and then spoke again.

"Please could you repeat the name of the woman you wish to be seeking?"

Rachel began to think she was wrong about thinking that this young man was any different from any other young man in Ohio. Without being rude Rachel decided to pursue her request.

"Ms Kitson works here, she's worked here every day since I was about six, I wondered if you could get her for me please?"

The man's face fell and upon it grew a grave expression. Rachel's heart tightened. No, this couldn't be happening, she couldn't have quit right? She's worked here every day since before Rachel was probably born, today of all days she isn't here. A precarious thought then entered the back of Rachel's mind and she clapped her hands to her mouth in complete shock. The man behind the desk seemed to confirm Rachel's fear. Mable Hope Kitson had died of cancer.

Every original thought that once bombarded the space between Rachel's ears were gone within a flash. A thousand questions filled Rachel's head, but what one did she ask first?

"When?" Rachel managed to stutter out.

"Just last month, I'm so sorry for your loss."

Rachel began to retort and say that Mable wasn't her family; but in an odd way Mable had become part of her family. Mable had had no one, Rachel was all Mable had. Rachel grabbed the silver bracelet that still hung limply from her wrist and squeezed it. This one bracelet held so many memories that would forever fill Rachel's mind, and then her children's, and then they'd tell their children and so on. It would become a family air loom Rachel thought. Minutes had passed while Rachel stood in front of the desk lost amidst the wisps of thoughts in her head. The handsome young man coughed as if to get her attention.

"Sorry, I um, I don't know what to say, I'll be err, going, sorry."

Rachel made her way to the door but was stopped by a firm hand planted on her right shoulder. Tears now steadily rolling down her face continued their fall, Rachel felt lost. This one woman who Rachel had only properly spoke to once seemed to have filled her with all the inspiration she needed to do everything she wanted to. She was now stuck. Stuck in the middle of cryptic decisions. Rachel didn't even know what angle to begin deciphering them at. Rachel had gone to the sea life centre in hope that Mable would be able to make her decisions a little easier. She'd never had a mother figure in her life, and at those odd occasions in which she had, she'd had no emotional help what so ever, if she was brutally honest, those occasional meetings with her biological mother had stirred up more emotions than she ever needed to acknowledge – let alone feel.

The desk at which Rachel formerly stood seemed to be a void between the good and bad. Through the desk was happiness and love, Mable enjoyed working here. Surrounded by sea creatures all day that didn't have to think could be comforting for anyone. Being where Rachel stood now, meant emotions, loss, love and a handful of things that teenagers such as herself shouldn't have to deal with alone. However, before Rachel could put much more thought into the concept she was interrupted by a soft yet ambiguous voice.

"I never met Mable, but I heard a lot about her. I started working here last week, I wish I could understand what you're going through but I can't," he pulled a crumpled letter out from underneath the desk; "hopefully this can though."

Rachel was utterly gobsmacked. A letter. For her? From Mable? She couldn't cope. She couldn't breathe. She needed air. No. She was Rachel Berry. She needed to be strong. The man's voice spoke again.

"If you need to talk, I'm happy to listen but I don't know how much help I can be. By the sounds of it you came here to talk to Ms Kitson, clearly about something important judging by your tear stained face. I can't talk much about Ms Kitson, but whatever else you're struggling with, I'll listen."

Rachel was touched by his concern but the last person she needed was more people in her life, taking on more problems when she couldn't even get to grips with her own. He seemed incredibly genuine, despite how many times Rachel thought it, and it didn't become less true. Compared to anyone else in Lima, this man was definitely worth at least ten of them. She both hugged and thanked the man who stood behind the desk, he seemed flattered, bewildered and yet thankful all at the same time. It made Rachel smile; he evidently wasn't use to such forward motions produced by a girl who just scraped above 5ft in height when he was at least 6ft himself.

Being subject to such a sudden and unexpected event Rachel was once more left expressing the feelings of another personal loss. First her friends – although she'd got the majority of them back – she still felt distant from them. Next it was Quinn, she'd completely screwed that up and she didn't even know if at this point in time she had intentions of putting it right with Quinn. Now Rachel had just lost another person in her life – someone who in a bizarre way – she looked up to like a mother. Struggling with her feelings she took a seat in front of the wheel in her car still clutching the letter in her hand, feeling overwhelmed with more emotions than she ever wanted to deal with.

On the other side of town Judy was about to feel exactly the same as Rachel. Judy wasn't holding a letter in her hand, instead she watched her daughter pace up and down the living room with an apprehensive look upon her face. This worried Judy. Quinn was usually so decisive even in the most subtlest of ways, but this for Quinn was a new extreme, not only was she being blatant, she also wore a look of contemplation which she usually hid from her mother.

"Quinnie, are you worried about something?"

Quinn didn't stop pacing, if anything her pace quickened. How was she supposed to answer her mother? In all of her life she needed her now more than she'd ever needed her before but she was scared. No, not scared – petrified. She thought back to how she was HBIC at school and how she was respected by everyone, not because she was a nice person but because they were too intimidated to stand up for themselves. She didn't want to feel like that anymore, she wanted people to respect her for being herself. It's now or never, Quinn thought to herself. She counted down from ten, as to prepare herself and then launched straight into everything.

"Mum, I like someone okay?"

"Oh honey that's great, I'm so happy for you. Do they like you back? Oh my god they didn't get your pregnant to did they?"

Quinn stopped her pacing to send a scornful look in her mother's direction.

"_No, they haven't get me pregnant mum. Unless Rachel has stolen a man's sperm put it in an empty yoghurt pot and used a turkey baster on me while I was asleep, there is no way in hell I'm pregnant."_

Biting her tongue, Quinn tried her best not to give that sarcastic answer – which was floating around her head – to her mother. She doubted she'd approve. Instead she tried to articulate an answer that didn't give too much away but didn't give a wrong impression of what Quinn was trying to explain.

"I like someone, but it's complicated."

"Honey, I had sex with your father, I can deal with complicated."

Once again Quinn froze mid pace. "Way way way too much information. This is important to me okay? I want you to know. I want you to understand what I'm trying to tell you so please, just listen to me."

"It's complicated because they're with someone…" But for the third time in a row Quinn was cut off.

"You've stole other peoples boyfriends before how is this different?"

Looking at Quinn's now tearful face Judy retreated with her comments and apologised.

"I want them to be happy, but I like them so much. I've never felt this way about anyone else before. It's all so cliché but at the same time it's all so real too."

"Honey do you honestly feel anything apart from what throbs between a man's legs?" Judy just couldn't help herself. All the time she'd spent living under the same roof with her now ex-husband had done this to her. He had caused her to be the way she was now. She didn't even know how to form her own opinion because it had always been given to her on a plate by Russell. Of course she wanted to change, but it was so hard – so undeniably hard.

"Mum I like a _girl_ okay! I wanted to tell you in a civil conversation. I wanted to try and help you understand before I dropped a bombshell probably bigger than when Finn announced I was pregnant. So please, for love of God just stop with the comments. Stop it. Just stop this, everything. This is so hard for me to work out in my head and I need help, and all you can do it sit there and make stupid comments about something you don't even know about yet."

As Quinn spoke tears gathered like little lakes at the bottom of her pale creamy cheeks, then all of a sudden as Quinn finished talking they dropped like two torpedos's and splattered onto the rug on which she'd been pacing. The room was silent apart from the tick tick ticking of the various clocks scattered around the room.

For Quinn this was the end of the line. Everything was planned out in her head of what she was going to say, everything but now with her mum's comments she'd made it almost impossible for Quinn to even continue. It had all gone to shit, so Quinn lost the plot and just dropped a bombshell. It was her mum's fault, Quinn convinced herself. If she hadn't have kept going on and on I wouldn't have snapped, yes this is her fault she thought.

Seconds that felt like minutes passed before either of the girls could say anything. It felt like a void was between them both, stopping the other for reaching out and pulling them into their own little universe. Quinn had always dreamed – ever since she was little – of letting her mum completely into her life, of letting her understand what it felt like to be young again, but she couldn't. At every opportunity she'd ever had her Dad had stood in the way, as if waving his finger at even the thought of Judy having a bond with her daughter. The void needed to be destroyed, if anything was ever going to be worked out, it had to start from now. It had to, or otherwise there would forever be unanswered questions lingering around in the air like a bad odour.

Quinn liked to compare herself to living a lavish life like Beatrice. She had everything she wanted apart from true happiness. Beatrice's façade of humour and sarcasm (much like Santana) prevented people from wanting to fight her back and ultimately it stopped herself from being happy; in relation to Quinn this character actually fitted her perfectly. At school Quinn hid behind the façade of being popular, being unapproachable and being _loved_. The love she got from school was aroused from her high grades, high social status and high skirt line. All Quinn strived for was love and attention, but the attention she got from oggler's at school was far from what she had in mind. She wanted to be looked after and properly taken care of by someone who actually loves her for who she is, and not who she pretends to be; but due to her long pretence, no one can see past the hard and selfish surface of what apparently resembles Quinn Fabray.

In comparison to her daughter, Judy lived in the world where countless times she'd try to cross the bridge to get to the fresher grass, but every time she tried she was stopped by an ugly and dominating troll, so she just admitted defeat. Times were different for when Judy was a child, she was never encouraged by her parents to stand up for herself, so whenever things got tough, she just listened to the troll and cowered back down in her grotty grass of which she called life. For Quinn, she had the chance to stand up to her mum and this was now, there was no way Judy was going to stand in the way of that, so she held back her thoughts and let her daughter continue.

Quinn, who had finally stopped crying, sat on the couch opposite her mother. Scared to look up, or more precisely, directly into her mother's eyes, she sat with her eyes staring at the floor as if transfixed by a speck of insignificant dust. When Quinn finally plucked up the courage to look at her mother, she was greeted by a welcoming image. Her mum had got off the couch and was advancing on her, motioning if she could sit next to her daughter. Quinn nodded.

"I don't do speeches or encouraging talks or anything because I just don't know how to okay? I love you and that's all that matters. If you like a girl that's okay, we'll work through that. Want to talk about it?"

Did she want to talk about? What a ridiculous question, the whole point of this was to talk about it to help her understand.

"I like her, I really do, but she's with Finn and…"

"What? You like Rachel? She is still with Finn right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You bullied her for the majority of your high school years; I'm a little shocked that's all."

Quinn sighed and rolled her eyes.

"You think I'm not? I bullied her because I was jealous of her, everything she had I wanted. She was happy, she had courage but most of all when people put her down she just brought herself back up."

Judy tried to process the information as fast as she could as to not make it seem like she didn't agree.

"Were you not happy?"

"Honestly no. Everything Dad did, you did. Everything Dad said, you said. I wanted someone I could look up to, but all I saw when I looked up was a clone of him. I couldn't say or do anything unless it was Christian then I got pregnant and he never looked at me the same way. I used to be a beacon of light in his life, now I'm nothing and I'm actually glad. I'd rather be nothing to him than something so insignificant that he doesn't care enough to help and support me," Quinn said stifling back her water works.

Judy squeezed Quinn's arm and then spoke again.

"I'm sorry you felt like that but that can change we'll make it change. I noticed that there was someone new in your life. You bounce around the house every time you go to meet someone and whenever I've driven you in the car you've gotten nervous. So what's she like?"

Quinn thought about this despite knowing exactly what she felt. She could talk about Rachel's personality and attributes all day but that wasn't what she was like, to Quinn she was someone different, something different.

"Different," Quinn replied.

"In what way honey?"

"She's just, just, I don't know, just different. But that's what I love about her."

Judy just smiled, not knowing what to say in response. Every time she felt more encouraging towards Quinn she felt a pang of guilt in the back of her mind. Was she really doing the right thing? Encouraging what she used to believe was the biggest sin of all? Judy then pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind and focussed on Quinn's happiness.

"Are you?"

"Gay? I don't know," Quinn replied with a worried expression on her face, as if her mother was about to kick her out if she admitted it.

"Have you liked other girls?"

Quinn had never really thought about it before, but if she thought back to her high school years now, she'd say yes. She'd always found girls more attractive but knowing that it was a _sin_ she ignored it and pushed it away by having sex with guys. Quinn stayed silent to the question and Judy respected it.

"Okay, well I want you to be happy Quinnie. So whatever floats your boat okay?"

Judy then got up and announced she was going to the grocery store. Is that it? Quinn thought. That was much easier than she'd ever expected, but then a horrible thought entered her mind. What if her mum was pretending to be okay with it, what would she do then? Hoping that both her previous thoughts weren't true, Quinn grabbed her phone and punched out a text to Puck.

_Mum knows about Rachel and me! __**– Q**_

Only a few seconds passed before Quinn's phone vibrated again, Puck had replied.

_Cool! When you have sex with Rachel can I watch? ;) __**– P**_

He is so bloody insensitive at times, Quinn thought as she locked her phone smiling to herself. After a couple of minutes reminiscing in the past event of essentially _coming out_ to her mother, for the first time in her life, Quinn was actually proud of herself. Her phone vibrated again.

_If I can't watch you can film it. Thanks __**– P**_

"Un-bloody-believable," Quinn chuckled to herself.

With trembling fingers Rachel opened the envelope. Her eyes quickly scanned over the letter, and after she realised that it wasn't at all long, she began to read.

_Rachel,  
>If you're reading this I'm not longer in the land of the living. I'm sorry I couldn't see you to say goodbye, but maybe this is better. I tried therapy but to no help. Some things in life just aren't worth fighting for but others are. In my life, there were very few things to fight for but as a young teenager such as yourself there is so much out there you have no excuses. Find who makes you happy and stick with them, even if it doesn't last longer, you wasted that time being happy instead of wasting it doing something you didn't want to do with someone who made you unhappy. Life hurts. Love hurts. People hurt. Everyone gets over it though, getting over something is usually the hardest part, but once that mountain is climbed it only gets easier and then it leaves new paths and walkways to find new and undiscovered happiness. I barely knew you, I saw you once a year usually around the time of your birthday but you seem like a very down to earth girl and it's hard to find someone like you in the generation we live in today. There's so much I want to say, alas, time is running out. Just some quick advice before I leave you, be happy, it's selfish I know, but nothing can beat happiness or love. Despite how hard things might get or seem to be, happiness will guide you through and if not, follow your heart.<em>

_Look in the envelope; I've left this for you. Thank-you for everything. A part of me will live on through you I hope._

_*signed*  
>Mable Hope Kitson.<em>

Rachel turned the envelope upside down and out fell a pristine clean, shiny silver bracelet bearing the same charms as it did when Rachel first gave it to Mable. A rush of gratitude filled Rachel. She'd done something right for once, for once she'd helped someone else. Rachel unclipped her own bracelet and shoved it in her bag; she then unfastened the other bracelet and put it on. Before Rachel knew what she was doing, she was smiling, tears blotched her face but she didn't care, she knew what to do now, the letter had given her all the help she needed.

As Rachel put her car into gear she said and although she knew Mable would never be able to hear it, she knew she would have appreciated it.

"Thank-you."

And with that, Rachel carefully pulled out of the parking space and drove off to the place she needed to be, and although the next thing she'd have to do would be hard, she knew it's what needed to be done.

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><p>Once again, sorry if this chapter didn't capture the emotions of the characters as you expected it to, I tried my best.<p>

Comments and reviews are much appreciated. (:  
>Constructive criticism included.<p>

**Next chapter: **Someone is in for a little shock, quinn or finn? Wait and find out (:


	19. Happiness

**Disclaimer: I do not own glee or any of the characters.**

Just to let you know from the last chapter Beatrice is a character from the Shakespeare play Much Ado About Nothing.

I hope you enjoy this chapter and please leave reviews and comments, critical criticism is welcome and any criticism really. Thank-you so much to everybody who reads this or who has put it on their favourites etc.

Enjoy.

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><p><strong><span>Chapter 19<span>**

The journey Rachel experienced had been like no other. She'd never felt so anxious before, usually she had speeches and presentations prepared, but not just prepared, she'd have back-ups just in case the first ones weren't quite right. Luckily for Rachel no one quite grasped her intellectual coherence which induced the consequence of very few presentations to ever be needed, or worse actually used.

Words floated around her head like clouds float in the sky, sometimes they were necessary, sometimes not so much. Up until now Rachel was sure of everything. She was sure of who she was, how she felt, what she wanted from life, who she wanted from life and how to deal with it all. Now everything had been turned on its head she hadn't got a clue how to approach it. How could everything that had once been so easy, now turned out to be so goddamn hard, she thought to herself as she pulled her car into the driveway of her next _victim_ as Santana would like to call them.

Drumming her fingers on the steering wheel Rachel really began to contemplate how she was going to explain what was going on in her head. Would they even listen, she thought, now more anxious than she was before.

"Come on pull yourself together, you are Rachel Berry, you know what you want, well you don't but this is going to help you okay," she muttered to herself.

She dragged herself out of the car and made her way to the front door still racking her brain to find the rights words, but before she had time to knock on the door, let alone compose herself, the door had been flung open and the _victim_ was facing her head on in the door way.

"Hey Rach, didn't expect to see you here," Finn said as his face lit up which contrasted greatly to Rachel's as her false smile faltered. Before she knew what was happening she'd been drawn into a very tight hug. When her face finally lay to rest rather uncomfortably on Finn's chest she felt guilt pour through her body as she could feel their heart beat getting more rapid by the second. She pulled away from the warm body that had just encompassed her, but not too quickly as she didn't want Finn to think the embrace wasn't a nice gesture of pure _friendliness_.

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><p>As Rachel walked into the house, she felt somewhat a stranger, and the more of a stranger she felt, the larger the lump got in her throat and the more guilty she felt for what she was about to do.<p>

"Finn, I'm just popping out for a minute, won't be long," a loud voice shouted from the back of the house.

"Okay, cool mum. Rachel's here for a bit is that okay?"

A head then poked its way around the living room doorframe and nodded towards Finn, signalling to the ecstatic boy that Rachel could in fact stay for a little while. Carole had never seen her son so happy before and after the whole debacle last year with Kurt, she was glad that the two boys now had made up and ultimately found different focuses in life.

"Thank-you Mrs Hummel," Rachel stuttered with a positive look, deceiving both Finn and Carole into a silence of which only awe was emitted.

* * *

><p>"Finn honey, I'm home, dinner will be about six, is that okay?"<p>

When Carole was met with an eerie silence, she called out again.

"Finn, are you home?" A worried tone filled her question.

A distance and slightly echoed voice protruded from somewhere upstairs, "Up here mum." The voice was emotionless and was no longer filled with the excitement that it was when Carole had left the house about twenty minutes before, thus ensuing Carole to persist the task of finding out why.

Carole knocked on the door and entered promptly afterwards. Finn was lying on his bed, hands behind his head staring straight up at the bland white ceiling. The room itself had something lingering in the air, something that didn't feel quite right. It took Carole a couple of minutes to work out what it was, but after noticing that the picture of both Rachel and Finn had been turned to face the wall, it all began to make sense. The lingering sensation was that of hurt, but not hurt mingled with guilt, just hurt, which in Carole's perspective made the subject much harder to approach.

Still not looking at his mother Finn moved his arms from behind his head and lay them to rest at his side, drumming a beat to a song with his fingers onto his bed. He knew his mum was ready to berate him about talking about how he feels and how opening up may make things easier on himself, but he wasn't going to be the one to bring up the subject. A couple of long drawn out seconds passed before Finn began to grow impatient, he was impatient because he knew exactly what she wanted to say and wondered why on earth she wouldn't just spill it. His impatience grew stronger and stronger when he watched his mum's eyes dart to the turned away picture and then back to the floor, then all of a sudden Finn snapped but at the same time Carole began to talk.

The collision of words, contrasting with both the loudness and quietness of the pair took each other by surprise and instantly stopped their conversing.

"What?" Finn asked calmly but through gritted teeth. His drumming fingers quickly morphed into fists, and it didn't go unnoticed by his mother.

"Calm down Finn, I was just going to tell you that dinner will be at six."

Finn, not stupid, rolled his eyes and sighed.

"That's not all you were going to say or you wouldn't have stood there for like the last five minutes examining my room."

Carole felt her cheeks flush knowing that she'd been caught _caring _- 'unecessarily' in Finn's eyes – about her own flesh and blood. Another few moments passed in the same eerie silence of which empowered the rest of the house, but soon enough Finn broke the silence again feeling pangs of guilt for how he'd just treated his own mother.

"You want to know what happened with Rachel?" Finn asked, reassuring his mother that he wasn't about to bite her head off again he sat up and pointed towards the now vacant space on the end of his bed.

Carole didn't feel the need to reply as seating herself upon his bed was answer enough.

Finn felt his jaw tighten but forced it looser so that he could talk.

"Rachel ended it with me. I really thought this was it, that we were finally together and happy. But stupid Finn Hudson wrong again," he said, almost yelling the last part to himself.

Carole winced as she felt the boy's pain and anger. She knew Rachel well enough to know that she was from a decent family and that she would never do anything unless she had good reason to. Her gaze was still fixed upon her son's face as she put out a reassuring hand and patted his knee. Finn felt like he was a young boy again, having his knee rubbed better after falling over whilst playing football with his friends. As much as he found it patronizing, he also found it comforting that someone else knew what it was like to wallow in pain that was through no fault of their own.

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><p><em>Rachel followed Finn through to his living and when gestured to take a seat, she did so.<em>

"_Drink?" Finn asked, a smile still etched across his face._

"_Water please," Rachel replied._

_A few awkward minutes passed with Rachel sitting on the black leather couch, as her eyes darted around the room. She'd been here many times before, but never in this particular room long enough to remember any significant features, but before she could dwell on the décor of the room, Finn walked in holding a glass of water in one hand and a glass of – what looked like coke – in the other. _

"_So what brings you here?" asked Finn as he set the two glasses down on the coffee table in front of him, before lowering himself next to Rachel and eventually wrapping his arm around her. _

_Rachel shuffled uncomfortably in her seat, luckily Finn was oblivious to this fact and just continued to smile whilst sipping his drink frequently. _

"_I need to talk to you about something serious okay Finn, and before you interrupt or try conversing back please just listen to what I have to say," Rachel said with a little more confidence than before._

_Finn seemed incredibly nonchalant and his smile only faltered slightly which unnerved Rachel, she was usually so used to Finn flying off the handle before anyone had the chance to explain. Just as Rachel was about to speak, Finn cut across her. Rachel rolled her eyes but allowed him to continue._

"_I know you said no interruptions and all, but you're not pregnant are you?" he asked furrowing his bushy eyebrows a little._

"_No Finn!" Rachel snapped a little louder than she intended, lowering her voice she carried on. "I'm not pregnant and seeing we have only engaged in sexual intercourse a few times with full protection, the chances of me suddenly becoming pregnant, even with your well um, mail man problem, are showing very insignificant at this point in time, so may I please continue without any unscheduled interruptions?"_

_Finn, who looked incredibly, taken aback just nodded and waited for Rachel's continuation._

"_I don't think it's a good idea for us to stay together at this current position in time," Rachel said as calmly as she could, looking into Finn's eyes the entire time._

_Finn began to protest and Rachel could see the tears welling up in his eyes, but she motioned him with her hands to not say anything._

"_I'm Rachel Berry and I don't get confused but for the first time in my life I am and it scares me," Finn put his hand on Rachel's as a stray tear found its way to his chin._

"_We can work through this and – "_

_But Finn was cut off by Rachel's icy glare that simultaneously swam with tears._

"_At the end of this summer the entirety of what used to be glee club will be split up, some will start work, some will go to college and some will apply for university and well, everybody knows that I have high aspirations in life and they know that I always seem to get what I want, but this time round I don't know what I want. Recently I realised that all I want is to be happy, and at the moment I'm not, I'm confused. Confused about us, life, friends and everything Finn and I don't like it; it's not comfortable ground for me to be on. I want us to be happy and we've always worked better as friends and I want us to be that again and work on building up our friendship to the pinnacle of what it can be. Everyone says your stupid but you're not, I believe in you and I know you're not happy at the moment, I want to help you with that, and the honest truth is I think you are partly unhappy because of me, and I fully accept that. So please, I know this is going to be hard, not just for you but for me to, can we just have some space and find ourselves. Finding ourselves together completely defeats the object because the ultimate goal of that will be jut finding each other again and that isn't going to make us happy. Please feel free to talk now."_

_Tears streamed down Finn's cheeks but an ironic, cute smile embraced them._

"_I love you so much Rachel and only you could have given me a life lecture before breaking up with me."_

_Rachel blushed and directed her gaze to the floor, however a warm tender hand stroked her cheek and lifted her face. The next thing Rachel felt was Finn's tender lips engulfing hers, not in a rampant attempt to seduce her, but a soft gentle kiss full of emotions. At the back of both their minds fireworks exploded, but they knew that they wouldn't always be there, and breaking up on a high would be better than breaking up on a complete whim later on in life. Finn pulled out of the kiss began to talk._

"_This hurts Rachel, but you're right and I'm so happy that I've been able to spend so much of my time with you, we need space and we need to find ourselves, at the end of this we might find each other again but if not, well that's a risk I'm willing to take. I know I was with Quinn first but you were my first love Rachel and I've been so honoured to call you my girlfriend, but now it's goodbye, well goodbye as dating each other but hello as friends." _

_Finn continued to hold Rachel's hand, their faces were still so close but any fires that were once ignited between them were now firmly blown out and the embers of their friendship began to glow once more._

"_Hey, I'm Finn Hudson, I used to play quarter back at school, I play the drums and I'm not very good with girls," he bent down and kissed the hand of Rachel's that he was still holding._

_Rachel blushed and wiped away a single tear that had edged its way closer to her chin and spoke again._

"_Hello, I'm Rachel Berry, I obsess over grammar and I am more than an over achiever, I once dreamt of being on Broadway but that was before I realised personal happiness should come first."_

_They both giggled at each other's introductions before hugging to break the tension._

* * *

><p>"It hurts but Rachel was right mum, I'm not happy and I think we should work on our own happiness before throwing ourselves into something that could potentially jeopardize our happiness even more."<p>

Carole looked at her son with complete admiration, she leant forward and kissed him on the head, "I'm incredibly proud of you Finn and if your Dad could see you now, he would be too."

As Carole got up to leave the room Finn called her back, "Sorry about before mum, I didn't mean it."

Carole just smiled and nodded, she turned away and said, "And turn the picture around, it'll make you smile and will help you to find happiness and you never know, you might need her more than ever, just as a friend to confide in."

Finn contemplated this for a minute before turning the picture around and smiling at the sight that confronted him. It was the picture taken just after nationals in their senior year, they'd won and at the front of the picture were Rachel and Finn holding the giant trophy in both their hands, and the rest of the glee club cheering behind them. Definitely the best day of his life, he thought to himself, and although his mum had gone downstairs ages ago, he spoke as if she were still there.

"Thanks Mum."

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><p><strong>I'm going to be away for a week 5-9th september, hopefully I'll update one more chapter between now and then but there wont be updates between the two dates just noted, however I will post as soon as I get back. Please bare with this hiccup and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.<strong>

**Next chapter: Will Rachel go to Quinn?**


	20. Who is at the door?

**Disclaimer: I do not own glee or any of the characters. **

**So it's the night Quinn has been waiting for but the big question is, will Rachel show up?  
>Reviews and comments please (:<br>Thank-you to everyone who is currently reading and favouriting this story etc. Just a reminder, I'm not here between the 5th-9th so the chances of an update are incredibly slim, but I will update as soon as I can! That is a promise.**

**This chapter isn't massively long, and I apolgize in advance for the end of it but enjoy!**

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><p><strong><span>Chapter 20<span>**

"Mum, I'm out tonight at Puck's so don't wait up okay, it could be a long night," Quinn shouted through the house just as she struggled over the threshold bags filling her hands. A variety of ingredients were spilling out the top of the bags that were weighing her down. Quinn kicked the door shut with her foot just as her mum came running out of the kitchen.

"Here, let me help you with that," Judy said as she lifted two bags out of Quinn's now less full hands.

Without wanting to impose on her daughter's life or influence her decisions she casually asked, "Quinnie, can I ask what this is all in aid of?" But just as the question left her lips she realised she'd already imposed too much, so quickly added, "If you don't mind me asking that is."

Quinn smiled acknowledging her mums attempt at subtly.

"I'm trying to make things right," Quinn replied, blushing slightly.

"With Rachel?" Judy questioned trying to hide how curious she really was about her daughter's new found love life.

Quinn's face flushed a brighter colour than ever before so merely nodded, but it was enough of a nod for Judy to understand.

Her daughter really thought a lot of this Rachel girl, even if she did bully her for the last three years of her life, but why shouldn't Quinn be happy? She thought to herself. The questions running through her head clearly weren't inconspicuous as Quinn questioned her mother's scornful look.

"Oh I was just thinking about you and Rachel honey." Quinn raised her eyebrows which prompted her mother's continuation, "not in a bad way," she hastened to add.

"Hmm, okay," Quinn replied, a little unconvinced.

"Look, this is all new to me, just as it is to you and I want to be as supportive as I can, I'm not asking you to pour your heart out to me, unless you want to of course, but I just want you to be happy and if that's being with Rachel or being with any girl in fact then that's fine. Just don't get hurt honey, because then your mum may have to go kick some Lima arse."

Quinn chuckled at this last remark as it reminded her of how Santana threatened everybody with the same, "I'll go all Lima heights on you."

"So what are you planning and why at Puck's you could have asked her here you know?"

Quinn's face fell and the realisation of Rachel potentially not turning up hit her again. A single tear slid down Quinn's pale cheek and landed on the kitchen surface with a little tinkling sound. Judy suddenly cottoned on to Quinn's tears.

"She hasn't said she'll go has she?" Judy asked as she pulled her daughter into a tight hug, where Quinn completely broke down.

Through sobs and a river of tears Quinn managed to utter out a few words, "I asked, but – she, she" Quinn sniffed and tried to calm her erratic breathing down before carrying on, when she finally gained control of her outburst she finished what she had originally been saying, "She didn't answer, every time we've got close to well, you know, talking about how we feel, she, she runs off and Quinn's tears started pouring again."

Judy started running her fingers through Quinn's hairs making soothing noises to try and calm her down, but to no avail.

After ten minutes of continuous tears Quinn finally pulled herself together and went to pull away from her mother, but she was stopped by a hand on her wrist. Quinn turned to see tears now pouring down her mother's face.

"Hey mum what's up?"

"I just, I can't believe I let your father kick you out when you were pregnant, seeing how upset you are now, I can't begin to imagine how scared and alone you must have felt then, and I'm, I'm just so sorry Quinnie, will you forgive me please?"

This time it was Quinn's turn to pull her mum into a soothing hug.

"Of course I forgive you mum, now stop blubbering and help me find a nice recipe for this evening."

Judy smiled and started to help Quinn empty the bulging bags.

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><p>The clock struck six and Rachel nervously looked around her room, an outfit lay on her bed, accompanied by her favourite perfume and on her dresser displayed the make-up she was going to use in order she was going to apply it. Everything was prepared to the tee but Rachel still wasn't sure, Mable's letter had really helped her in the decision she wished to make, she wanted to be happy, but was happy <em>Quinn<em>? She'd spent her entire high school life being slushied, and thrown into dumpsters and having pornographic pictures drawn of her plastered all of the toilet walls at school. Okay, so they had been Quinn, but did she want to go back to that again? She didn't even know if she was gay, she was just a confused teenager and she didn't want to be labelled by the entirety of society before she even knew how she felt about one girl.

Yes, there was definitely something there, but that was what scared Rachel so much. Quinn cheated, Quinn lied, and Quinn hurt people. Rachel couldn't be one of those people, selfish it was, but she'd been through so much already her happiness meant more to her. Pushing all thoughts aside Rachel tried to separate her feelings for Quinn from everything else that contributed to the factors of why she shouldn't see her this evening.

As the clock struck six fifteen Rachel was dressed and had just finished her make-up. She went downstairs and was met by one of her dad's. Leroy stood in front of her and said, "Who's the lucky guy then?" The question completely bypassed Rachel and the only word she heard in the sentence was _'guy.' _

She was expected to date a guy, expected to have kids with a guy, with Quinn she couldn't do that, not in the natural way anyway. She had nothing against gay people, and her dad's was a clear example of that, but everything seemed to be different when it came down to the actual person themselves. It felt different, it wasn't different but it felt it.

"I'm off to a friend's tonight actually, but I'm only in half a mind to go."

"Go sweetie, you look amazing and it might lighten you up a little bit, you've seemed tense lately, both your dad and I have noticed," Leroy said with a look of concern now clouding his face.

"I'll go but…" she trailed off, too caught up in her thoughts to continue. She knew what she had to do, but she'd never been more tested in her life. She owed Quinn the truth, at least the truth. Yes, she was going to go, but would she have the guts to get out of the car and speak the truth face to face?

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><p>Quinn flung Puck's door open and both herself and her mother walked inside. Judy had picked out a recipe for a vegan lasagne and although neither of them cooked that often, they were both determined to make this night work; for Quinn's sake at least.<p>

After a few frantic minutes of preparing the house was ready. The lights had been dimmed for a romantic effect and in the middle of Puck's living room sat a coffee table, now set for two places. A pile of cushions sat behind the table at either end whilst a single candle shimmered in the middle of it. Place mats had been set and cutlery was already neatly placed as the candle light was reflected in the shining silver. Quinn even had a playlist of her favourite music (and a few tracks of Rachel's') on pause on the Ipod that was delicately perched in the docks.

"I think that's it," Quinn breathed nervously to her mother.

She was overwhelmed with emotions. Her mum helping her was more than she ever could have asked for, even if it was out of previous guilt, Quinn didn't care, she'd finally got her mum back in the way she had always wanted and it felt amazing.

Judy pulled Quinn in for a quick tight hug and whispered some advice in her ear.

"Whatever happens you are amazing. Whatever happens I'm just a phone call away. And whatever happens, I hope to God it works out for you, if not now, I hope it's a step towards something bigger in the future. You deserve happiness Quinn just as much as everyone else in this dead end town."

Quinn tightened her grip around her mother's waist.

"Thank-you mum."

"You are quite welcome honey." Judy pulled out of the embrace. "I'm off, I hope she turns up Quinnie, if not, I have a stash of ice cream at home okay."

Both Quinn and Judy chuckled at the last remark.

As Quinn heard the door latch click into place, she knew she was now on her own, nerves over took her and she began to shake. Hugging herself, she sat down nervously on the arms of one of the couches staring at the clock. Six twenty, Quinn thought to herself. Ten minutes in which to make sure she looked the part; the part of what, she hadn't a clue, but she still wanted to look good. Quinn walked up to Puck's bedroom and admired herself in his ceiling to floor length mirror.

Her hair hung loosely over her shoulders in its naturally curly state whilst her eye slightly silver eye shadow caught the light making her eyes much more prominent. The faint eyeliner enlarged her hazel orbs just as the mascara did the same. She wore a long summer dress that just brushed past her knees. It was white with faint yellow paint streaks all over it and over her shoulders she wore a mustard yellow cardigan. _As good as I can look_, Quinn thought to herself.

_Beep Beep Beep._

Quinn heard her phone go off downstairs and dashed to get it but was only down heartened when she read it.

_Hope your date goes okay with stubbles__** – S**_

How the hell did Santana know? She quickly punched a text back asking her how she knew and as she waited for a response her eyes kept darting towards the clock. Roughly six twenty seven. Quinn's heart pounded and she nearly jumped out of her skin when her phone went off again.

_I'm outside Puck's and he told me he leant you his house __**– S**_

Great, Quinn thought to herself, now Santana knows, but not only does she know, she is outside the house.

_Yes. Now leave, don't screw this up for me please __**– Q**_

If she screwed this up for Quinn, there is no way in hell she would ever forgive her.

_Was coming in to give you advice actually. See you in five. __**– S**_

Quinn's heart pounded faster than ever, Rachel was due to show up at any minute, if she knew Santana was here or noticed her car there was no hope in hell for Rachel to ever have the courage to knock.

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><p>At the exact same time Santana sat outside the Puckerman household, so did Rachel. She eyed the door up and could see the house was dimly lit. She looked at her phone. Six thirty. As petrified as she was, she knew it was now or never. Rachel stepped out of the car and made a few uneasy steps towards the dimly lit house; she suddenly felt nauseous and stopped halfway across the road. She'd parked across the road because she didn't want Quinn to notice the car, if Rachel was turning up; she was doing it in her own very inconspicuous way. She held her breath and began to walk again.<p>

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><p>Six thirty. Quinn was so frustrated. She'd text Santana back telling her not to dare turn up at the house in case Rachel saw her, but Santana had already text back with a text reading:<p>

_Too late Preggers __**– S**_

Quinn didn't know what to do, what if Rachel was going to show? What on earth would she do if she saw Santana knocking on the door? Would she still turn up? Would she text Quinn? What? But before Quinn could think about any other possibilities, her thoughts were interrupted by a sharp knocking on the door.

Quinn's heart plummeted. Her eyes darted back to the clock one last time. Roughly six thirty-two. Quinn mustered up all the courage she had and could only hope upon hope that it was Rachel, but after Santana's text, and Rachel never announcing that she was actually going to go to Puck's, she hadn't got the faintest idea of who was standing on the other side of the door. Quinn got to the door and turned the handle, she paused giving herself time to slow down her breathing and then opened it, ready to greet whoever was there.

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><p><strong>So, who is at the door then? What do you think? Who do you think?<br>Comments and reviews would be wonderful.**

**It could be at least a week before another update due to the fact that I may not have internet access, however as soon as I get it the next chapter will be posted. I'm sorry that I've left it on such a cliff hanger, and I'm sorry it will take a while to update but the suspense is definately worth the wait.**

**Thank-you all so much for your patience and currents reviws etc, it really means a lot!  
><strong>


	21. An awkward position

**Disclaimer: I do not own glee or any of the characters.**

**Hello readers, firstly I would like to apologise for the lateness and I'd like to explain myself. I was away for a week and said that I would update when I got back, however, I then got rather ill and so have been writing on and off since then, I FINALLY finished writing the chapter today and am just about well enough to hope that the spelling and grammar is correct. **

**It's a chapter a lot of people have been waiting for so once again sorry for the delay but here we go! It is here! Enjoy! I just hope I have done the situation (in this chapter) justice!  
><strong>

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><p><strong><span>Chapter 21<span>**

She held her breathe as she slowly opened the door, anticipation filled her as she did so. However, the sight that unfurled in front of her knocked every ounce of air out of her. Not having known what to expect Quinn had only partially prepared for who could be on the other side of the door, but now that person was standing in front of her, staring her in the face, nothing could have prepared her for how she felt.

"Hello Quinn," a timid voice said trying to avoid eye contact at all costs.

"Rachel," Quinn breathed out in almost a whisper.

A few awkward minutes passed of Quinn admiring Rachel from every angle possible, and Rachel just staring at the door step trying to find something to focus her gaze on.

"C...Come in," Quinn said stepping backwards a little too quickly, allowing the shorter girl to step through the door.

Despite having been in Puck's house many times before, Rachel still stood awkwardly in the hallway not knowing which room to go to, not knowing what to expect, and not knowing what to say. Being speechless was far from comfortable ground for Rachel to be on. Everything was usually planned so far in advance that she'd never have to worry about a thing, but now, her thoughts had been blown out of her head by an invisible wind due to the sheer intensity of the situation.

"Um, where shall I –?" Rachel stammered, but before she could finish a jolty Quinn had already cut across her, probably a little too fast and a little too eager as Rachel noticed the blonde's embarrassment

"Through here," Quinn half shouted, pointing to Puck's living room.

Rachel nodded still trying to look anywhere but at the blonde. She progressed slowly towards the living room making sure to keep her eyes directed to the floor, that way she could keep a cool head and not mix up any of her emotions before she had time to express them. However, Rachel failed at the mundane task in which she was originally preoccupied as she stepped into the living room. To see the room that was usually crashed out on by teenagers that Rachel didn't know, spilt beer all over the coffee table and broken glass scattering the floor, now transformed into what only could be described as the pinnacle of all romantic gestures.

Quinn could see Rachel's face contorting into a variety of different emotions. First shock, quickly followed by apprehension and just before Rachel spoke, Quinn was convinced that Rachel's face displayed signs of ease and contentment.

"Wow," Rachel breathed.

Quinn who now stood behind Rachel blushed even though the diva could not see her.

"You did all of this for me?" Rachel asked a little scared of the answer. She had tried so hard to keep the two poles of her body separate. Her heart was saying one thing and her head said another but as soon as her eyes had fallen onto the room before her the two poles and broken free of their restraints and collided with each other in a whirlwind of confusion and emotion.

Rachel began to get a little wary of Quinn's slow response but was soon put out of her misery. If the blonde was still HBIC she would have said, _don't flatter yourself man hands_, or something else appalling along those lines. Instead, however Quinn gave a very short, sweet and honest answer.

"Yes," she said calmly yet resolutely.

It was Rachel's turn to blush this time, but as Quinn still stood a good metre behind Rachel she couldn't see a thing. Quinn couldn't see Rachel blush and Rachel couldn't see the cute smile that now crept across her face.

In all honesty Quinn was incredibly proud of what she'd turned Puck's living room into. The room was only lit by two blood red candles that innocently perched in the middle of the coffee table. On opposite ends of the table was a tablemat with cutlery already prepared around it and the upturned wine glasses seem to make the table an absolute masterpiece. Two cushions were carefully stowed underneath the table as not to knock anything off once they were removed. The candles caused everything in the room to have an eerie yet comforting shadow and the pictures on the walls reflected the light of the candles causing them to shimmer like water does when the sun shines upon it. Quiet music played in the background and the candles swayed elegantly along in time to each individual song. At first Quinn hadn't got a clue as to what songs to play, and felt rather inadequate to Rachel's vast library of musical tastes, but in the end she had decided to stick to a typical _Rachel Berry_ soundtrack.

The first few songs were individually picked from the musical Wicked and after that some of Rachel's favourite songs she'd sung in glee over the past three years, however once they'd finished Quinn was worried as to what Rachel would think of her music taste as the Ipod was just left on shuffle comforted by the two large docks either side of it.

Quinn's thoughts were immediately interrupted by a warm sensation filling her body and the feeling of a soft warm hand stroking the back of her neck. She'd been so engrossed in taking in the view of the room that she'd failed to notice the diva put her bag on the couch and make her way over to the blonde thus pulling her into a tight embrace.

At first glance at the pair embraced in the doorway of Puck's living room one would just consider them as one friend thanking the other for helping them set up a date, but if you looked really close, like, really closely one would notice that Rachel was tenderly stroking the back of Quinn's neck and that slowly, very slowly, they were melting into each other, almost swaying in time with the melody that was swinging it's through the air. The hair on the back of Quinn's neck stood on end just from the soothing circles that Rachel was making and as it began to tickle Quinn, she tightened her grip on Rachel's blouse.

After what felt like an age Rachel pulled away and apologised for what had just happened. Quinn wanted to tell her not to apologise but the words just got lost in her mouth. They stood awkwardly a foot apart from each other both looking at the floor but every so often taking a quick glance at the other. Every now and then they'd catch each other's eye and then instantly divert their gaze and mumble apologies. Luckily a loud beeping noise from the other room broke the awkwardness between the girls.

"I better get that, unless you want burnt food of course," Quinn joked lightly.

Rachel smiled and just said that she'd make herself comfortable.

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><p>After eating what felt like a relatively comfortable dinner Quinn offered Rachel dessert.<p>

"You're lasagne was outstanding Quinn I didn't know you could cook, let alone learn a vegan recipe just for me," Rachel said blushing as she did so.

Quinn also blushed but nodded convincingly. Another awkward silence crept upon them so Rachel accepted Quinn's offer of dessert which was a vegan chocolate sundae. Quinn wasn't entirely sure how you could even have a vegan chocolate sundae but according to the _Ultimate vegan cook book_ anything was possible.

They ate firstly in silence but conversation slowly crept upon them and they soon began talking as if they'd known each other their entire lives. As dessert came to a close they shifted uncomfortably on their cushions, as the night persisted the inevitable was drawing closer. Their feelings had still been left unspoken.

To ease the tension Quinn suggested a film, of course Rachel jumped at this opportunity hinting at her favourite musicals but Quinn was already one step ahead of her. She'd chosen a film already, it wasn't a musical, just a casual chick flick to pass the time but she felt as if she could relax watching it and just bask in the warmth and glow of hers and Rachel's friendship until the dreaded moment of _talking_ arrived.

The duration of the film was pretty laid back; every so often they would send quick glances at the other and once again actually catch the other looking back. At one point Quinn could feel Rachel moving closer and out of nowhere Rachel's head was suddenly resting on her shoulder. The fusion of their bodies colliding sent a whir of signals to Quinn's brain, was this a good sign? A bad sign? A sign of friendship? What? Quinn couldn't contain her happiness but knew she had to so she just smiled a very content smile, however it was as if Rachel knew Quinn was smiling because she giggled and tried to hide it.

"What was that?" Quinn asked still smiling.

"What was what?" Rachel asked lifting her head from the blondes shoulder, turning around and being just inches from Quinn's face, however pulling a very I-have-no-idea-what-you're-talking-about look.

"That, that giggle," Quinn joked her smile still radiating from her face.

"Well you should know better than to smile at my gestures of kindness, I can see everything and I know everything," Rachel replied playfully punching Quinn on the arm.

"Man down!" Quinn shouted clutching her arm as if Rachel had whacked her one.

Rachel laughed a very soft laugh but it was the most genuine sound that Quinn had heard all evening, Rachel finally sounded relaxed, and Quinn couldn't have been happier.

"Being a former Cheerio I would have thought that your muscles would be of steal and that the titanic crashing into you would be a mere tap on the shoulder," Rachel teased.

Quinn pretended to look shocked and then tensed her muscles, kissing the air in mock celebration. By now Rachel was lying on her back, stretched across the entirety of the couch laughing her head off. She couldn't remember when she'd laughed so much, let alone at something so trivial. But was it so trivial? Rachel though to herself.

As the credits began to roll Rachel turned to Quinn and said, "You know I've never seen that film before, it was a bit pornographic at times but other than that it was quite a feel good film and I enjoyed your company."

Quinn couldn't help but blush at the diva's compliment, "Well I feel as if I did my job well, impressing the Queen of Lima."

"Hey!" Rachel shouted, "I have dreams and aspirations that is all!"

"Yeah, yeah," Quinn joked as she launched a pillow in Rachel's direction.

Taken completely by surprise, Rachel took a pillow to the face and pulled her _game on_ expression. Within minutes the blonde and brunette were launching pillows at each other and play fighting whilst shouting very insignificant insults towards the other. The fighting however, ended when Quinn found herself completely unintentionally on top of Rachel, whose eyes were screwed shut and her arms above her head in a means of surrendering.

"Okay, okay you win Fabray! But that isn't the end of this trust me."

Quinn just laughed but didn't move her position. She was straddling the diva with no complaints which in Quinn's mind meant improvements however a pang of hurt hit her when she realised the time and knew that Rachel would soon have to leave. For a few seconds they just stared into each other's eyes, Quinn into pools of melted chocolate and Rachel into hazy green lakes. Before Quinn could get her head around what was happening Rachel had moved closer to Quinn, so close that once again their lips were just centimetres apart, teasing themselves as if daring the other to go first. Hesitation filled the atmosphere, neither girl wanted to ruin the moment but at the same time they were both frozen in both awe and fear.

Just as Rachel closed her eyes and leaned into Quinn, pushing her body further upwards to feel Quinn's warm embrace, a loud noise went off very close to the pair which caused them to jump away from each other. Quinn apologised as the pair sat awkwardly on opposite ends of the couch just as she pulled her phone out to see who had interrupted her one and possibly only chance of being close to Rachel. Looking at the screen she rolled her eyes and sighed.

_Santana_ flashed across the screen.

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><p><strong>Right, school has started again and I'm in my final year of A-Levels, it means a lot of homework and a lot of revision, hopefully I'll update at least once a week if not more, but if the updates are rather scattered it is due to school work and I apologise in advance.<strong>

**Please comment and review please 3**

**Thanks to everyone reading this, it means the world to me.**


	22. Subtly is not your forte

**Hey guys, sorry it's taking me so long to update. School is crazy already and we've only been back a couple of weeks. I'm doing my best to update when I get time, but i've also had writers block so I'm incredibly sorry.**

**Anyway! This chapter is the one that the whole story has been building up to. Will they talk? Will Quinn be honest or more importantly will Rachel chicken out, again?**

**It's all in this chapter, it's quite long so I'm very sorry, if I shortened it, it would have had to have been in two chapters and I didn't really want that, I needed all the main emotions out in one go. It's a tad emotional but hey, could just be me!**

**Enjoy!**

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 22<strong>  
><em>

_If you and Berry don't make up tonight I'll break your legs Q! __**– S**_

"Who was that?" Rachel asked as she awkwardly sat on the opposite side of the sofa to Quinn, after ten minutes had passed in Quinn's frantic texting and silence between the girls.

Quinn, who wasn't really listening, continued to angrily text back and Rachel began to notice.

"Hmm?" Quinn replied.

Rachel slid closer to Quinn and put her hand over hers. Quinn stopped texting and her breathing slowed, a pink tinge covered her face but the light was so dim from the almost burned out candle that Quinn was convinced that Rachel wouldn't have noticed.

"Who was it Quinn, you're not okay," more time passed in silence.

"You can talk to me Quinn," Rachel coaxed.

"It was Santana, but it's not that," Quinn said loosening up. "Well it is, she threatened to break my legs, but that's a story for another day," Quinn joked.

Rachel forced a smile but still remained unconvinced.

Quinn felt warmth engulfing her hands and couldn't work out as to why, until she looked down. Rachel's hands were placed perfectly on top of her own. She smiled, but it soon faded when she realised that Rachel would have to leave within the next ten minutes.

"Would you like another drink?" Quinn asked, standing up and attempting to change the subject.

"Water please," Rachel replied as Quinn left the room.

As Quinn left the room to get Rachel a glass of water, she threw her phone down on the kitchen counter. How could she have been so stupid to nearly let Rachel kiss her, the whole point about tonight was to talk about Rachel's non existing feelings for her, so why on earth did she let herself strung along. Quinn mentally kicked herself for even beginning to think that Rachel would ever string her along, but another part of her thought that maybe she was right, and that she was going to flaunt what she was missing in her face. But Rachel wasn't really like that was she? Quinn pondered over the thought as she poured Rachel a cup of water. She walked over to the freezer and threw a couple of ice cubes in the now full glass, causing a few drops of the water to spill over the side.

"Shit," Quinn said as she reached for the cloth to mop up the mess she had made.

Rachel must have heard because Quinn felt herself in a similar position as she was in once before: standing in front the exact same kitchen counter feeling someone else's presence behind her; however this time she wasn't crying nor staring out of the window looking at what she had missed out on with her own daughter, instead she was mopping up ice cold water that she had just poured for the girl she so desperately had feelings for. Feeling Rachel's presence behind her again in another intimate situation was enough to make Quinn not only spill more water, but drop the glass all together. Composing herself and etching a scrawled smile across her face Quinn turned around and took a few steps towards Rachel.

"Here's the water you wanted," Quinn said in a falsely happy and high pitched voice.

"Quinn." Rachel almost whispered it, but it was still loud enough to pierce through Quinn's soul leaving little holes of emptiness on its journey through, however Quinn continued her façade of happiness and brushed of Rachel's attempt at getting Quinn to talk. But wasn't this what she wanted? She wanted to talk. She wanted it all out in the open, but the thing that scared Quinn the most was being open; being subjected to the hardships of life. Having the walls of her real self unguarded, Quinn felt vulnerable and the last thing she needed were her walls ripped down and not having enough time to build them back up before a bomb shell of heart breaking news was dropped.

"Quinn," Rachel spoke again, this time a little more loudly, Quinn had obviously zoned out.

"Yeah, what, sorry?" Quinn managed to mumble out, a tinge of pink coating her cheeks.

"I think you zoned out, I was just going to say thank-you for the water," Rachel handed back the empty glass and then continued, "I better go now, by the sounds of your phone colliding with the wall and your obvious anger towards Santana, displayed through your spilling of the water, it is apparent that you need time to yourself and so I feel that that is my queue to leave. Thank-you for a lovely evening though Quinn, we should do it again sometime."

However, Quinn was completely oblivious to the last part of Rachel's leaving speech as she was more focussed on the fact that she was leaving, that they hadn't had time to talk. They nearly kissed for god sake and once again it's going to be left unspoken. Quinn was so confused about whether she wanted to talk or not, she'd dropped her gaze to the floor and ceased to notice that Rachel no longer stood in the room.

"I'll let myself out Quinn, bye," Quinn heard the distance voice of Rachel say and that's when realisation hit and she came crashing to her senses.

The latch of the door clicked, Quinn grabbed her phone and tore through the house, wrenching the door open she squinted into the darkness. There she was, about to get into her car. Quinn ran across the street without even bothering to check for other cars, luckily for her there was no traffic otherwise she would have been taken straight down.

Rachel heard a noise behind her just as she unlocked her car; she turned around to see Quinn sprinting across the road.

"What the…" Rachel began but was interrupted by a rushed statement from Quinn.

"Its-to-late-to-go-home-stay-pucks-tonight," was all Rachel managed to catch of Quinn's rushed rambling.

Quinn doubled over and rested her hands on her knee's catching her breath, since she'd no longer been on the cheerio's squad her athletic fitness had sunk to a newer low than it had when Quinn was pregnant with Beth.

"Excuse me?" Rachel asked politely, but blushing at Quinn's keenness. Luckily for the pair of them it was both dark so Quinn couldn't see Rachel's reddening face and Rachel couldn't see Quinn's out of breathe windswept face.

Quinn composed herself, stood up straight and spoke clearly and quietly, "It's late and it's not like either of us have anything going on early in the morning tomorrow, so, why don't you, I mean, would you like to, I don't know," Quinn blushed deeply at the last part, "spend the night here?"

Rachel just stood for a second, the door of her car still wide open, then all of a sudden she closed the door locked it and began walking back towards Puck's house. Quinn just stood rooted to the spot not quite sure what was going on.

"Um Rachel, did you forget something? I can get it for you if you want; it saves you going back inside."

Rachel turned to Quinn ignored her question and said, "Puck's door automatically locks so unless you want to stand in the middle of the road all night, I'd kind of prefer it if you let us both in so we can actually spend the night together."

Quinn's mouth fell open at the last part and despite the dim light of street lamps Rachel still noticed and hurriedly said, "Not spend the night like that! I just meant that we would obviously be sharing the same house, therefore in a weird way we would be spending the night together, I just phrased it wrongly which is rather odd for me and…"

Quinn cut Rachel off, "Stop Rachel, I get what you meant, it's fine, breathe, calm down, go inside," she said as she threw the keys towards Rachel.

"Aren't you coming?" Rachel asked curiously.

"I'll be right behind you; I just need to make a call."

Rachel silently complied and headed towards and then into Puck's house.

Quinn pulled her phone from her pocket, the LED screen seemed brighter than normal, but that could just be due to the darkness that seemed to engulf her. After scrolling down her calls list Quinn found the number she was looking for, she held her breath and pressed OK. Whilst the phone rang Quinn began mentally preparing herself for the potential bombshell that was about to hit her.

"_What?" A rather angry voice said at the other end of the phone. Before Quinn had a chance to continue the voice cut through again, "If you haven't had babies by now I do not want to talk to you."_

_Quinn frowned at the last part and put on a patronising tone that she knew would get to the latina._

"_Santana, Santana, Santana, when will you learn that subtly is not your forte?"_

_She could hear Santana's breathing get quicker as she became more frustrated._

"_Look, I was outside Puck's earlier, all ready to come in when all of a sudden Rachel appeared from nowhere, if she had seen me she wouldn't have turned up to see you, she would have left making feeble excuses. I had just turned around to go back to my car when I stood on a twig which snapped making a noise; I heard Rachel gasp and jumped into the nearest garden hedge so that she didn't see me. You owe me big time Fabray."_

_Quinn was in hysterics at the opposite end of the line and couldn't compose herself long enough to string a few words together._

"_You? Jumped in a… in a… for me?" She just could not get the image of Santana with leaves in her hair out of her head._

"_Yes okay, I did it because you mean a lot to me Q, you've been through a lot and you deserve to be happy, I fucked up my happiness and it stings like a bitch, I don't want you feeling the same way as I do," the latina's voice had softened and Quinn's laughing soon came to a halt. _

"_Thank-you," was all Quinn could muster._

"_It's fine okay, just tell her how you feel, like really tell her, at least then you've tried your hardest and you know there was nothing more you could have done," there was a slight pause before Santana carried on, but this time, in her normal tone of voice, "And if she turns you down you can always have a taste of the Lopez charm. Look I'm serious Q, be honest, it's your best weapon, minus your tits of course."_

_Quinn scoffed and shouted back at Santana telling her not to be so one track minded, but Santana knew she was joking. After having denied Santana's very forward offer unless hell froze over which she doubted would be very soon, she ended the conversation, hung up the phone, sighed and then headed back towards the well lit house._

Back inside the house Rachel was rooting around for another DVD that wasn't a typical _Puck_ movie. After searching through both cupboards which were full to the brim with DVD's and not able to find a single musical, she decided on the next best thing, setting up Puck's karaoke machine. Rachel still hadn't got a clue as to why he had one, as he was the last person to actually practise before Glee club, so she finally decided that he probably owned one due to his little sister. Once the karaoke was set up, Rachel finally heard the door open and close. She was a bit conscious at first, not just to whom she was ringing, but why she was ringing them and why she was ringing them from the middle of the road, but for now she'd just have to settle with not knowing.

Quinn walked into the room very confidently, which was a change to walking in to the house as if she was frightened something was going to jump on her. As she walked into the living room she hadn't even acknowledged that Rachel had started talking to her until she felt a warm hand tugging at her own.

"What Rachel?" Quinn asked quietly.

"Well I set up Puck's karaoke and I thought…" but she was cut off with Quinn's oblivious response.

"Wait, Puck has a karaoke?" There were so many things that that kid hid from everyone, Quinn thought to herself.

"I've picked a song and I think I should go first as I have a more natural voice, then you can either join in or sing the next song…"

This time she was cut off by a much more serious Quinn Fabray, "Rachel we need to talk."

Rachel had dreaded this moment despite expecting it all evening, and although she'd expected it she still wasn't fully prepared.

"About what, Quinn?"

"This Rachel, us, or whatever the hell was going on between us."

"I don't quite follow," Rachel said convincingly, however in reality she was following exactly what Quinn had meant, but continued to trying to put off the inevitable.

Quinn could tell when Rachel was lying, and she knew she felt exactly the same as herself: scared. She pointed towards the kitchen and motioned Rachel to join her. Rachel didn't move at first, but after a few seconds had passed Rachel knew it was for the best. They took the seats that were opposite each other widthways so that they weren't talking so far apart from one another.

A couple of minutes passed in silence apart from the slow tick tick tick of the clock that could be heard from anywhere in the house. Both the girls found the silence uneasy and more often than not one of them would try to hint at the other to start the conversation by a subtle cough or a loud sigh. In the end Quinn caught onto the idea that Rachel was never going to speak as, in fact, it was Quinn's idea to talk in the first place.

"I've screwed up my life so many times. I've trusted people who I never should have even considered trusting. I've had the walls from around me ripped down over and over again and each time I build them up the cement gets weaker and weaker. I try to be strong, I put up a façade, I sit in the story that I make up in my head, because in my head the fictional world I can create is so much better than being myself. In my fictional story I was popular, people cheered me, people adored me, I got all the top school marks and I trusted people, and that was when everything went to crap."

Rachel could see the tears welling up in Quinn's eyes but she couldn't bring herself to move her hand just a couple of inches closer to Quinn's now trembling fingers to comfort her and to reassure her that it would all be okay.

"When I trusted Puck my fictional world crashed down, I went from the top to the bottom and that's when reality hit and that's when I realised I wasn't happy. I wasn't happy in the first place, but imagine already being unhappy and then having your reputation torn away from you, having your family kick you out and practically disown you, and that fictional façade you created, you have to grab it with the tip of your fingers and just capture part of it to hold onto to hope that it will all be okay. I pushed away my friends, I treated everyone like crap, I let Sue feed me crap that it was the Glee Club's fault; it wasn't though, it was mine Rachel, my fault. Glee was the only thing that I had left and I pushed that away with everything else. It's taken me two years to build back up the relationship with my mum and I'm not letting that go again. I've gained back the majority of the glee clubs approval. I'm working towards my happiness for once, for what I actually want, and honestly, I can't do that without being honest, and for the first time in my life I need to be honest."

Quinn paused and Rachel held her breath, she knew exactly what was coming next but she still didn't feel prepared enough. She felt like making an excuse and leaving but she knew that if she wanted Quinn to ever trust her, then she needed to stick this out, not for her own benefit, but for Quinn's, and after everything, it was the least Quinn deserved. Quinn opened her mouth to talk and Rachel felt everything freeze, the next few words just hung in the air.

"I like you Rachel, and I think you know that. No, I'm more than positive that you know that. I'm not asking you to confess your love; I'm not asking anything of you apart from the truth. If you don't feel the same, well that's fine, but I need to know because I can't keep clutching at strings, I can't keep clutching at false hopes. And more than anything I can't keep fumbling for my fictional story and my fairytale ending, I need the truth Rachel, please at least give me that and then let me get on with my life, let me build it up, and let it be real for me, please Rachel. To me this is everything. I need a life that is mine, a life that I have control of, and I can't control it when there are so many things that are left unsaid; they aren't even things that need to be left unsaid. If you leave now, if you leave again, selfish as it is, I'll be back at square one, with nothing, building up something that I'm not even sure about because I don't know the truth. You are strong Rachel, much stronger than anyone I know so please, this one thing, do it for me, please."

Quinn's mini speeches had really got to Rachel, not just because of what Quinn had said, but how much she meant what she was saying. Quinn was a girl of few words, if you wanted to know what Quinn was thinking, you really needed to look deep into her eyes but they were so ambiguous that no one ever really knew what she was thinking; instead they were met with an icy glare that no one dared question. Quinn twiddled her thumbs together, quickly wiped a stray tear from her face and sat back on her chair; it was obvious Quinn wasn't moving without an answer. That's one thing Rachel loved about Quinn, how similar they were on the level of stubbornness they each possessed. Neither would give up easily.

Quinn's ipod was still playing quiet music in the background, how neither girl had noticed before they hadn't got a clue but suddenly Rachel heard the lyrics, she really heard the lyrics and she knew what she needed to do. She stood up and walked over to the ipod, she turned the volume right up and motioned Quinn to stay seated. At first Quinn was annoyed as she really hadn't expected the smaller girl to evade the situation any longer, then with confusion and slow realisation Quinn began to realise what Rachel was doing. Rachel talked the talk about the most pointless things ever, but she never got to the point quickly and concisely. Okay, Quinn couldn't talk over the lecture she just gave but this was different, and Rachel was different.

Rachel spoke in song, and that was exactly Rachel was going to tell Quinn how she felt. She'd mulled everything over and over in her head so much in the past week she still hadn't got any closer to knowing what she wanted to say, she hoped upon hope that Quinn would forget, but she knew Quinn was not at all stupid. When the song had started to play the first time, Rachel recognised the lyrics and began to completely understand them and they were exactly how she felt, she just begged that Quinn would understand just as much as she did.

And so Rachel started the song again and began to sing.

_The story of my life I can't quite comprehend.  
>Don't tell me if you know how it ends.<br>When everywhere you go feels like a mirror maze,  
>And you're not sure how you're stuck in this place...<em>

At first Quinn didn't recognise the song, but as soon as she did, she completely forgave Rachel for walking away from their conversation; this was Rachel Berry's way of talking.

And you got nowhere else to go  
>And you're lost within your own home,<br>And you're trying so hard to win,  
>You keep trying, it's embarrassing.<br>And how you don't even know,  
>But you know you're off the tracks...<br>And how did you get in here?  
>Thinking how did I get in here?<p>

I'll help you break the walls down.  
>I'll help you break the walls down...<br>Bust you out, and take you home,  
>Believe you me you are not alone,<br>I'll help you break the walls down.

As the duration of the song progressed pools of tears formed a shield over Rachel's eyes. She blinked and a single tear escaped, slowly rolling down her cheek. All Quinn wanted to do was stand up and wipe the tear away but she needed to respect Rachel's way of talking and she needed Rachel to finish. Rachel listened to her and she needed to listen to Rachel, but it was hardly hard to listen, Rachel's voice echoed all around the house and it was just a fabulously powerful version of the song to listen to.

Does anybody know where February went?  
>I was hoping that by now it would be the end of this:<br>When you open up a book and read a thousand lines,  
>But you don't really read you just move your eyes.<p>

And you got nowhere else to go  
>And you're lost within your own home,<br>And you're trying so hard to win,  
>You keep trying, it's embarrassing.<br>And how you don't even know,  
>But you know you're off the tracks...<br>And how did you get in here?  
>Thinking how did I get in here?<p>

I'll help you break the walls down.  
>I'll help you break the walls down...<br>Bust you out, and take you home,  
>Believe you me you are not alone,<br>I'll help you break the walls down.

And I know this is random  
>But just this morning I saw<br>the sun reflecting off the lawn and window,  
>Oh I don't know why but I thought you should know.<p>

When you got nowhere else to go  
>And you're lost within your own home,<br>And you're trying so hard to win,  
>You keep trying, it's embarrassing.<br>And how you don't even know,  
>But you know you're off the tracks...<br>And how did you get in here?  
>Thinking how did I get in here?<p>

I'll help you break the walls down.  
>I'll help you break the walls down...<br>Bust you out, and take you home,  
>Believe you me you are not alone,<br>I'll help you break the walls down.

And all the weight,  
>You carry,<br>Will disappear,  
>And I will willingly,<br>Embrace you so,  
>You lay your head.<br>So come on home,  
>Come on home,<br>Come on home,

Yeah, yeah.  
>Yeah, yeah.<p>

When Rachel finished, her face was streaked with tears as was Quinn's. Quinn made her way to stand, but Rachel motioned her to stay seated, Quinn obeyed and continued to twiddle her thumbs and tried to ignore the incredibly fastened pace of her heart.

"I didn't know what to say; well I knew what I wanted to say, but not how to say it, so I said it like that. I hope you understood what I was trying to say, and I hope you believe every word of it. I was scared, I am still scared but I should never have left you hanging so many times before and I'm sorry, but I'm here now and this is me, this is the most civil side of Rachel berry you are ever going to get."

Quinn's heart rose like a helium balloon, even if Rachel didn't return her feelings, she was finally being honest to herself and that's all Quinn asked for.

"You were honest to me, and I need to be honest too, I broke up with Finn. I broke up with him because neither of us were happy, everything I once believed in is now just a hazy memory of which I will one day probably regret, but that's fine and I can cope with that because I want to live now, I want to live in the moment and I want to live in the moment with _you_ Quinn. And you wanted the truth, so here it is."

Quinn really held her breath now, and waited as time seemed to drag on, then Rachel spoke.

"I like you too Quinn. I really like _you_."

And there, Quinn sat motionless a silent stream of tears digging a path to her chin and Rachel standing, shifting her weight between the balls of her feet anxiously waiting for either Quinn to interrupt or a sign to keep talking.

But silence or not there they were, together, for the first time ever, being honest bother to themselves and to each other sharing the first of many things in common.

_That feeling._

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><p><strong>So was it what you expected? Comment, reviews, please?<br>I tried really hard with this chapter so I hope I did Quinn and Rachel justice!  
>Thankyou for the comments and favourites and alerts etc, they all mean a lot, once again sorry for the very staggered updates, but I'm trying my best.<strong>

**The song is "Walls" by The Rocket Summer. Listen to it and how it's sung, I just think the song perfectly suits Quinn and Rachel's situation and despite it being predictable and cliche it's definately how Rachel portrays her feelings best.**


	23. Patience is a virtue

**Disclaimer: I do not own glee or any of the characters.**

**Firstly: Huge apologies for such a delay in updating. School has been crazy! Homework is coming out of my ears and on top of that I've had writers block.**

**Secondly: Thankyou so much to everyone for reviews, alerts etc, it means a lot to me, and I hope this chapter is up to scratch, let me know if it's not!**

**Enjoy!  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter 23<strong>

The morning after the marathon of confessions Quinn felt elated. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so happy, she wasn't entirely content as Rachel had never mentioned what would happen next, but she was happy enough to have fallen asleep on the couch, watching another chick flick with her arm around Rachel, holding her as if her life depended on it. As both girls began to awake realisation hit them, they'd both confessed how they felt but what had happened after that? Quinn racked her brains until she remembered, it took a while, but as she sipped a cup of coffee while Rachel still soundly slept, she began to remember what had happened.

_Rachel sang. We hugged, no wait, I stood up and she came over and hugged me. We didn't really talk because everything was really awkward. We drank some wine, watched a film, and fell asleep. Quinn started, until another realisation hit her. Shit, I didn't do anything stupid, I only had two glasses of red right? No, I remember, we talked about after summer. _

Suddenly Quinn felt the pit of her stomach open into an endless abyss. The end of summer. The dreaded time when Rachel would head to New York and leave Quinn behind.

_Wait, she said she didn't know what she wanted anymore, oh god damn you stupid Quinn Fabray why can't you remember, now you're going to have to ask her. Great one. I am such, _Quinn paused , _an _she paused again and then finished off with, _idiot._

Quinn looked over to the now stirring Rachel Berry. Quinn jumped up and turned the coffee machine back on, hoping against hope that it would be in time for Rachel's morning energy craving. Not long after Quinn turned the coffee machine back on her phone had vibrated, at first she thought it was her mother checking up on her, a.k.a, last night's situation as she didn't come home last night, but she was much mistaken and instead received a text from Santana.

_Hey, coffee when Berry's gone. Lima bean 10:30 no excuses. __**– S**_

Quinn's eyes darted to the clock and then she began to panic, it was ten o'clock now and Santana would go all 'lima heights' on her if she didn't turn up on time, but thankfully Quinn's panicking thoughts were answered by a finally, fully awoke, Rachel berry.

"Morning Quinn," she said with a smile scrawled across her face, but behind the confident smile. A blush of embarrassment was hidden.

Quinn knew that Rachel hid everything behind a confident persona, but she smiled back all the same, even though she knew, deep down, Rachel was dying of humiliation, especially as she had sung her feelings out instead of speaking them.

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><p>Singing her feelings was just another natural, mandatory process in the life of Rachel Berry; however she didn't feel the same as she had done every other time she'd sung out how she truly felt. She didn't know if it was because this time she truly 100% meant how she felt, or that she had only sung because she was under pressure or perhaps the underlying fact of why she felt different was actually because she liked Quinn so much that was she was scared that she had already began pushing the blonde away by singing to her, especially before they'd even got together and even more so as she'd sung at the top of her lungs how she really felt about the blonde and how she wanted to care about her and in all honesty, how she already did care about her, how she cared about her so much, but was just too afraid to show it just in case the blonde got suspicious and turned around and told her to mind her own business. Rachel couldn't risk getting hurt again, definitely not by the person who was so unique to her, someone who she felt something different towards every time she saw her.<p>

Not knowing what to say next, Rachel stuck with the safest option, "Quinn, I'm sorry I know we need to talk more but I promised I'd spend today with my dad's and I know it's not ideal but I'll make it up to you. I promise," Rachel finished with a saddened look that had just crept upon her face.

But to her amazement Quinn just smiled, "Sure, its cool, Santana text me not long ago anyway, I think she wants to talk about her and Brit."

In all honesty Quinn knew that Santana hadn't text her to talk about Brittany but she could hardly turn around and say, _actually Rach, can't spend the day with you because Santana wants to berate me on our 'potential' relationship' and then give me sex tips that I don't actually want and after that she's probably going to lecture me on how I'm making a mistake etc etc etc, so it'd be nice if you'd leave me to it._

Rachel gathered up her bag and phone and walked to the door, Quinn followed not far behind. A quick glance at the clock, then back at Rachel. God Quinn was lucky. Despite a rough sleep on the couch still Rachel looked like a goddess. Her brunette hair hung loosely over her shoulders, still accompanied with the 'sex' hair kind of look. Not that any of that kind of stuff had gone on, oh how Quinn wished though. Just as Quinn snapped to her senses she felt a soft warm touch on the side of her cheek. Rachel's hand. It was drawing circling motions over her soft skin and Quinn felt her stomach flip inside. After a couple of doodles on Quinn's cheek, Quinn found the energy to lift her own arm and place her hand on top of Rachel's. Both girls smiled at the gesture and then quickly looked away from each other as not to see the slight magenta tinge on either girl's cheeks.

"Well um, I'll see you soon then?" Quinn hastened to add the 'soon' bit as she didn't want it to go weeks before they even saw each other again, but immediately after saying it she felt stupid and clingy.

"Yeah," Rachel said slightly dreamily.

Quinn's hand still resting on Rachel's brought it to her mouth and kissed it lightly. Rachel then drew her hand away but still didn't move. She shifted on the balls of her feet again, just like she had the night before, and once again Quinn was nervous about what Rachel was dying to say.

"Spit it out then," Quinn said, at exactly the same time Rachel that Rachel had started to say, "Would you be…"

The girls blushed again and Quinn hurried an apology.

"Carry on," Quinn mumbled, now very shyly and wearily.

"I was just wondering, well, not wondering but curious about whether you, whether you'd want to possibly…"

Quinn giggled as Rachel trailed off for the umpteenth time.

"What?" Rachel asked curiously.

"You, you never stutter, you're always so confident and now, well, Puck could string a better sentence together at the moment than you could."

Rachel's faced half resembled a shocked/appalled expression as to being compared to the intelligence of Puck, but the other half resembled a small hidden smile that Quinn actually noticed.

"At the same time that I am very offended with your comparison of Noah to I, I also am highly grateful at the fact you are being very patient with my confusion in trying to string more than a couple of words together," Rachel finished while blushing.

"And you found your voice," Quinn continued.

"What I was going to say before you rudely interrupted me by comparing me to another unruly companion of mine, was…well I was wondering if you wanted to you know, go on a date with me?"

Rachel buried her face in her hands as she spoke the last part. What was this, Rachel thought to herself? She never got embarrassed, especially not in front of the former head cheerleader. And realisation hit her once again; she was falling further and further for Quinn Fabray, but still couldn't admit it to herself out loud.

Only a couple of seconds had passed, and Rachel felt apprehensive. _Stupid Berry charm not working. How could I have been so pushy? Only last night Quinn plucked up the courage to tell me how she felt and I did the same, oh you really fucked it up this time._ Rachel was rather shocked to hear herself swear in her head but discarded the thought pretty quickly when she heard Quinn begin to talk.

"I'd love to, to be honest," Quinn said with a huge reassuring grin plastered across her face.

Rachel's heart dropped, her stomach flipped and somewhere in between the dropping and flipping her stomach and heart collided with a loud thump bringing her back to reality.

"Cool," was all Rachel managed to say, until she found her voice. "I know we only spoke about everything last night, and I fully understand if you just feel obliged too go, but you're not, you don't have to go if you don't want to or if you don't feel ready, I understand that and…"

But before Rachel could finish her rant she was silenced by a pair of lips crashing with her own, causing her last syllables to be forced to low mumbles. The vibrations of the syllables hit Quinn's lips and urged her to deepen the kiss and before she realised what she had done, she felt Rachel kissing back just as urgent. Quinn slowed the pace of the kiss right down and then slowly pulled away.

"You were saying?" Quinn asked an innocent look ever growing on her face.

Rachel didn't say anything. How could she form words after what had just happened? Quinn had just spontaneously kissed her, or had she literally jut kissed her to shut her up? Rachel hadn't got a clue, but for once, she didn't care. Although she didn't want to rush into anything too quickly because she'd only recently broken up with Finn, she felt alive again. She didn't feel as if there wasn't any hope anymore. She felt like she could begin to piece together the rest of her life without the aid of others. She felt alive. When Rachel crashed back to reality for the second time in the space of ten minutes she realised that she hadn't actually answered Quinn, but judging by the look on Quinn's face, it didn't actually matter.

"That's an achievement I may even have to write down," Quinn said, prompting Rachel to question her.

Rachel looked confused at first, and despite the fact that she knew Quinn wanted to question it, she felt like being rebellious. Instead of asking what on earth Quinn was talking about, Rachel kissed Quinn's cheek and began to walk towards her car, crossing the grass as she did so, but before she'd even made ten steps Quinn spoke again, and this time it tickled Rachel so much that she just had to ask what she'd meant.

"Didn't ever quite think I'd manage that," Quinn paused and then continued, "Have a nice day with your dad's Rach," Quinn finished offering a very genuine smile in Rachel's direction.

"What achievement didn't you think you would ever manage oh mighty Quinn Fabray?" Rachel joked.

Quinn's smile morphed into a grin and then she said, "Well I honestly never thought I'd see the day that Rachel Berry was speechless, and I definitely never thought it would be me who silenced her."

Rachel laughed and wanted to protest, but she couldn't, she just didn't have it in her, instead she turned to the direction of her car, began walking and shouted, "Have a nice day with Satan, sorry, um, Santana."

This time it was Quinn's turn to laugh.

Quinn watched Rachel walk all the way to her car and continued to wait until she pulled out and drove off, but just as Quinn had closed Puck's door behind her, she felt her phone go off in her pocket. She checked the time as she unlocked her phone.

10:21

Shit. Quinn was going to be late. Only after she had grabbed her stuff together and left the house at a brisk walk, did Quinn check who the text was from. Her heart rose when she saw Rachel's name flashing on the LED screen.

_Never thought I'd see the day that the former head cheer leader didn't stick up for her side kick. One up for both of us. __**– R**_

Quinn laughed out loud just as she passed an elderly couple, who turned to look at the blonde with curious expressions on their faces. Normally this would bother Quinn, but not today. Not anymore.

Quinn punched a text back to Rachel, put her phone in her pocket and walked through the door of the Lima Bean Café.

_Fair play. We're on equal footing now. __**– Q**_

Quinn scanned the café and when she saw no sign of Santana, she checked her phone again, wondering what the time was and why the latina was late.

10:31

Quick walking Quinn Fabray, she thought to herself. Just as she locked her phone to put in her pocket, it vibrated again.

_Don't get used to it. __**– R**_

Quinn smiled, was this Rachel's subtle way of saying that something more was going to happen between them or was it just friendly banter echoing from their previous encounter? But before Quinn could ponder over the thought anymore she was at the front of the queue.

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><p>The café was relatively full, families and former students from McKinley High filled the chairs and tables that were dotted around. Quinn didn't recognise anyone in particular, as she sat down at the very back of the café on the last vacant couch. Putting down the black coffee and the cappuccino, Quinn's eyes darted around the restaurant, once again searching for the latina. Quinn took the first sip of her steaming hot cappuccino and felt a shadow loom over her. Next thing Quinn knew Santana had arrived and slumped down beside her without saying a word. Contemplating her words before she spoke, Quinn greeted the latina in a former head bitch tone.<p>

"No excuses for being late," Quinn quoted whilst pretending to look at a watch on her right wrist, just before putting her coffee back on the table.

Santana just rolled her eyes, lifted the cup and downed half of the contents within two mouthfuls.

"I'm not paying for another one," Quinn said as she watched the latina's movements.

Once again Santana just responded with an eye roll.

A couple of silent minutes passed. Quinn nursed the remains of her cappuccino whilst Santana just avoided eye contact in hope of completely avoiding conversation, but wasn't it her who'd text Quinn asking her to come here? Suddenly Quinn's unspoken question was answered as if Santana had read her mind.

"Spill."

"Excuse me?"

"Don't play dumb Q, it doesn't suit you."

Quinn knew perfectly what she meant, but she'd also forgotten how blunt and how to the point Santana was.

"Well first we…"

"Woah, woah woah," Santana said raising her hand in the air beckoning Quinn to stop.

Quinn's perplexed look caused Santana to continue.

"I don't need to know about you and Berry's juices okay..."

"But I wasn't…" Quinn interrupted but was stopped again.

"Or I will ends you," Santana finished with a smirk scrawled across her face.

"Someone's happy," Quinn said in response to the smirk, completely oblivious to Santana's previous request of spilling the details on Rach and herself.

"Well let's just say Brit and I may have…"

"Woah, Woah, Woah," Quinn retaliated in a mocking tone, mimicking Santana's previous hand gesture.

"If you interrupt me again Juno, I will go all Lima Heights on your arse, got me?"

Quinn laughed and just nodded in response to the latina.

"As I was saying," Santana continued, "before I was rudely interupted…"

"You sound like Rach, I mean Berry, I mean, oh shit," Quinn mumbled.

However, Quinn wished she'd mumbled even quieter. Santana had heard every word she said, and she didn't seem to like it.

"Rach is it now? I know I didn't want the deets, but even that is way too much information," Santana said screwing up her face in disgust.

Quinn blushed but what Santana said next surprised her a little. Well, a little was an understatement.

"How did it go then?"

A tad too shocked to respond Quinn just kept swirling the dregs of her coffee around hoping not to catch the latina's eye.

"I don't have all day Q."

"We talked."

"Genius, you strung a couple of words together, then what?"

Santana grew more and more impatient and she was convinced that Quinn was answering deliberately vaguely just to wind her up more.

"We had dinner, I told her how I felt, she sung to me then she…"

But Quinn stopped mid sentence as she realised the latina had just choked on her coffee.

"She what?" Santana spluttered.

"She sang, what's the big de…"

"She can talk for the entire state yet she sung to you?"

As Santana said the words aloud Quinn began to feel incredibly proud of Rachel. She felt proud of how she was still willing to be different despite everything, then she remembered how she'd told Puck all of this before, and she just smiled. She was falling so hard, and she just couldn't stop.

* * *

><p>When Quinn made her way back to Puck's to tidy up she couldn't help but feel that everything was falling into place, not just in her life, but in everyone around hers as well. Sam and Mercedes were still together. Blaine and Kurt were still head over heels for each other. Rachel and Finn weren't together. Quinn felt bad for having thought the last thought, but deep down she knew she hadn't meant it in a bad way. After all Rachel had briefly mentioned, in the sleepy state that she was in, that Finn had been a 'gentleman' about it, to be exact in Rachel's words. But on top of everything, Santana and Brittany had made progress.<p>

Quinn passed the park on her journey back to Puck's and as she did so she saw all of the couples holding hands strolling along the winding paths, some heading towards the woods and some heading towards benches scattered here and there. A small pond lay not far beyond Quinn, half a mile maybe. She was only reminded of it as she saw a group of ducks padding slowly along, heading towards the cool water in contrast with the heat protruding from the bright summer's day. The duck's reminded her of Brittany and Quinn began to remember bits of what Santana had said about the two of them.

"_We spoke and well, you know I'm not good with feelings I tried my best and then suddenly she took my hand and dragged me out of my own house."_

_Quinn raised her eyebrows at the latina's reaction._

"_At first I was like what the hell, but Brittany just ignored my protests and by the end of it she was practically dragging me by the wrists. Anyway, it was dark and I was annoyed so wasn't really paying much attention to where we were going and then suddenly she stopped. She sat down and patted the ground next to her. It was cold, we were on the grass, slightly damp too if I recall but anyway she began to talk. She told me that she came here when she didn't know what to do she'd talk to the ducks, and that's when I realised we were at the duck pond just past the park. You could see the silhouettes of the ducks wading their way across the water. Brit lent her had on my shoulder and took one of my hands, it was really romantic."_

_Santana blushed and tried to hide it by taking a mouthful of her second coffee of which Quinn had been forced into paying for. Quinn was about to talk but was silenced by the death glare from Santana._

"_I didn't know what to say, but I didn't need to. The silence felt, comfortable, you know? Then she spoke, she said the ducks had told her that patience is a virtue and she'd wait for me, she'd wait for me because she loves me. She said she'd made a mistake with Artie, and just like myself she was trying to hide her feelings but she couldn't do that anymore."_

_Santana paused, took a deep breath and continued._

"_She loves me Q, she loves me."_

And all Quinn had needed to do in response was to give Santana a reassuring smile and squeeze her hand. Santana knew Quinn was right, not that she'd ever admit it, but she knew it. She trusted Quinn and as much as Santana pretended not to like Rachel, Quinn knew that Santana, approved really, otherwise she wouldn't have asked her to coffee just to get the details.

Quinn turned into Puck's drive completely oblivious to the journey she'd just taken. She took out her phone and punched out a quick simple message.

_Perfect. __**– Q**_

Simple as it was, she knew her mum would understand.

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><p><strong>Ah! So what did you think? Comments, reviews, criticism? Let me know please, it really helps me write this you know! Thankyou to everyone who has left me a little something something so far, it means a lot to me (: and it motivates my writing!<strong>

_**Next chapter: Their first official date. Do the Berry's find out Rachel's secret? And did Finn really mean what he said?**_


	24. Scarred for life

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own glee or any of the characters.**

**Hey guys, this is just a 'filler' chapter really, it's fluffy and stuff. It's short and I'm sorry but it would have been too long to add the date and the encounter with Finn all into one chapter. **

**I want the next chapter to be perfect****, so this is just a quick fluffy update and the real good stuff will be along shortly I promise!****  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter 24 <strong>

Quinn's phone vibrated in her pants pocket; however she continued to scan the aisles of grocery store, not actually looking for anything in particular.

The shelves seemed to be moving. Dancing maybe. Everybody around her wore brightly coloured outfits. Halloween? Quinn thought to herself. No it couldn't be it was summer still.

The thought then vanished from her mind as she felt something behind her ear. She rubbed it with her index finger and then looked at it.

Sparkly.

Quinn looked upwards, since when did it rain glitter…inside, Quinn began to wonder?

Quinn was happy, content even. She swung her body round and round in circles and at one point was convinced she began to fly.

This is real right? Quinn thought, not wanting her worst fears to come true.

Reality. It sucked. But right now, Quinn was in ecstasy or what she believed to be ecstasy.

She was in a dream world.

A world far, far away from planet earth.

Somewhere with rainbows and fairies and little cupcakes that start singing before you eat th –

But Quinn's thoughts stopped short when an echoed voice sounded from behind her, or was it above her?

"Honey," Judy called from behind the girl's bedroom door.

In front of Quinn's eyes images morphed and zoomed past her at full speed, travelling into an unknown place. Quinn wanted to follow, to go with the moving images but she couldn't move. Her feet were stuck to the floor; they were like lead weights dragging her to the bottom of the ocean.

More echoes and the pictures began to fade. They faded into a black and grey screen which covered Quinn, engulfed her. Quinn began to thrash until she heard something, it kept repeating the same word over and over again. Honey. Why would the grey screen be calling her honey, she wondered and then reality slowly dawned on her.

Quinn's head began to swirl once more trying to concentrate on the echo, on the words in her head, or so she thought were in her head.

"Honey it's time to get up, its noon, I thought you had a date with Rachel at two."

Quinn shot up and sat bolt upright in her bed. Her quilt now lay on the floor. The previous spinning images made Quinn's head pound.

The room slowly began to come into focus. The desk. The mirror. The window. Oh, the light, Quinn closed her eyes again and lowered herself back into bed.

Judy entered the room with a rather scornful look and set a cup of coffee down on the bedside table.

"That is the last time I ever let you have Santana over to 'study.'"

"Santana was already half cut when she said that, and anyway you were the one who bought the story, its summer for god sake, who studies in summer," Quinn mumbled in her still drunken state.

Judy frowned and chose to ignore the comment.

"Don't forget your date, it took you both long enough to tell each other how you feel, do you really want to go and screw up your date with Rachel because of a stupid night with Santana?" Judy asked sternly.

Quinn muttered something about hating life, love and family under her breath.

"I heard that, now get moving."

Quinn groaned, rolled over and pulled her pillow over her head.

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><p>An hour later Quinn was up, showered and relatively sober, once again pacing her living room, unnerving her mother to new levels.<p>

"Quinn, stop okay. I know you're worried but it will be fine, now will you please pace somewhere else you are distracting me from the TV."

She threw herself onto the couch next to her mother and sighed. She continued to sigh, getting louder and louder each time in hope that she'd get a reaction from her mother.

"What?" Judy practically yelled.

"I love you," Quinn replied bluntly.

Judy, a little taken aback eyed her daughter with suspicion.

"What do you want?"

"Can't a girl tell her mum she loves her without being questioned," Quinn over dramatised.

"Quinnie, darling, I know you; too well, so pull the other one."

Quinn huffed.

"Fine, can you lend me some cash please?"

Judy turned to her daughter who pouted.

"I'm busy."

"I know where your purse is."

"Why do you need money?"

"Condoms"

"Now seriously"

"Who says I wasn't serious?" Quinn retorted trying not to laugh.

"A week ago you announced that you were pretty sure you were gay, you cooked a meal for a girl and then poured your heart out to her, if they weren't telltale signs I don't know what are."

For a moment Quinn thought she was busted, no money, no present, equals bad date resulting in disaster. However, an idea quickly occurred to her and she smirked at her own intelligence.

"They're for Santana," Quinn said smugly, smiling in her own glory until it was wiped off of her face.

"Santana is about as straight as a U-turn. Try again."

Judy was fast winning this battle.

A little dumb struck, Quinn struggled for a response, "What…how do you know?"

"If your hesitation wasn't enough…"

"I did not hesitate!"

Judy continued, "Going to the mall and trying on clothes whilst trying to ignore the sex noises coming from the other side of the wall to you, definitely is enough."

"It could have been anyone."

"As I was paying I watched Santana leave the cubicle first, and then Brittany left not long after, they exited the shop hand in hand. Cute really," her mother finished.

Quinn knew she was losing with her mother but couldn't help but smile over the recent news of Santana and Brittany finally being together.

"So what is the money for?"

Quinn pretended she didn't hear and stared at the TV screen.

"So is he actually in a relationship with her or just paying her to be his mistress."

"You've seen it before, stop changing the subject."

"Oh, that's right, she says she never kisses them on the lips, but she kissed him and they end up together, I remember now," Quinn said to herself evading her mother's questions.

"Is a friend in trouble? Is that why you want money? Are you in trouble? You can tell me anything you know Quinnie," Judy asked, her face contorted into a look of anxiousness.

"Is that Richard Gere?"

"Quinnie, answer it, please."

"No mum no one's dying," Quinn answered half heartedly while reaching over and taking a handful of popcorn from the bowl sitting on her mother's lap.

She crunched loudly and glanced at the clock. The process of attaining money really needed to be speeded up, Quinn thought to herself.

The only way Quinn was getting money fast was by either winding up her mum enough to just say yes or starting an uncomfortable conversation that her mother would want to avoid.

She wasn't entirely sure whether she should use the quicker method, or funnier method.

Unless of course you are Quinn Fabray, in which the answer is obvious.

Use both.

"I'll pay you back you know and wow I forgot how hot Julia Roberts was."

"Quinn, just tell me. I'm your mother."

"Well, it's not drugs I promise, Puck's on holiday at the moment. Do you reckon Roberts is hotter in this film or in _Sleeping with the Enemy_?"

Judy rolled her eyes.

"Just take some cash but pay me back okay," Judy sighed.

Quinn was too far gone though; it was too much fun to give up now.

"Snog, marry, avoid mum. Erm…Julia Roberts, Drew Barrymore and Natalie Portman."

"Quinn, take the money and go."

Quinn acted as if her mother hadn't even spoken and her grin just grew wider and wider.

"You know, I'm really not sure what I'd do. I think I'd have to marry Julia Roberts because she'd have the most adorable children, I'd avoid Drew Barrymore, but that's only because Natalie Portman is freaking hot, I mean seriously did you see her in Black Swan? Her and Mila Kunis, well, outstanding acting if you know what I mean," she winked at her mother who looked mortified.

"Qunnie, please just go, you're beginning to creep me o…"

"In all honesty if I had a body like Natalie Portman I'd definitely touch myself too and…"

"Quinn you are making me miss my film and corrupting my mind in the process. You are my daughter and yes I love you very much, more than you would ever think but there are some things you just need to keep to yourself now grab some cash and go meet Rachel."

"You've seen this film so many times before and anyway I have some questions to ask you. I never really got '_the talk'_ due to daddy dearest thinking I'd never have sex, but now that I've pretty much realised that I'm gay I think we need the talk properly. I mean, what do I do? Can two girls get it on and still call it sex without actually penetrating the other with a peni…"

"Quinn! If I hadn't given up drinking I can assure you I would have smashed the glass of the liquor cabinet and drunk its entire contents, but as I have given up drinking instead of drinking myself into oblivion I will smash the glass of the liquor cabinet, douse myself in it and set fire to myself, so please if there is nothing else can you just take some money and leave, while I attempt to end my life or better still keep my life and just eradicate the disturbing mental images I now have in my head of Natalie Portman touching herself!"

Judy sank as far into the couch as she could, covered her face with a cushion and mimicked suffocating herself before launching it, successfully, at Quinn who was situated on the adjacent couch.

Quinn's hysterics were disturbed by a pillow colliding with her head. She wiped away the stray tear of laughter that had rolled down her face and then got up, passed her mother and without looking at her now pale white face said:

"And that will teach you for questioning my personal life but sure, I'll pay you back."

Mission: complete.

* * *

><p><strong>Thoughtsopinions?  
><strong>

**Thank-you to all those people who add me as alerts and comment etc etc...  
>I've just written another two part fanfiction called "The Assignment," you can access it via my fanfiction page, it's Brittana by the way.<br>Check it out!**

**For now, enjoy.  
><strong>


	25. An unexpected ask

**Disclaimer: I do not own glee or any of the characters.**

**Here is another update, it took a while but I'm thankful I split it up between the last chapter and this chapter.**

**Thank-you to everyone who reviews and adds this story to their alerts, I'd like to say thank-you to three people:**  
><em><strong>Aydenjett<strong>_  
><em><strong>joan0md<strong>_  
><em><strong>Callie1121<strong>_

**These three people permantly give me feedback and it really helps and keeps me powering on with the story so thank-you.**

**Anyway, onto their date!  
>Enjoy.<br>(I apologise for the length of this chapter.)  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 25<strong>

Rachel waited nervously at the smoothie bar. Her gaze was directed downwards as if pretending to examine something interesting on the ground, but in fact she was too scared to continue look up just in case she saw Quinn appear and walk away again.

Had she been too forward? Was their date too soon? Was it their first date?

Rachel had been confused by the encounter at Puck's, they'd had dinner together, watched movies together, told each other how they felt, held each other in the other's arms and fallen asleep curled up together.

Does that constitute as a date? Quinn didn't specifically say it was, but then again she didn't say it wasn't.

Rachel started to get flustered and began to panic. She wrenched her phone from inside her pocket hoping against hope that there were no messages, especially messages from Quinn.

Especially messages that may mean she's been stood up.

**1 new message.**

Rachel's heart pounded against her rib cage. Her breath caught in her throat. Needles jabbed at her heart. She wanted to throw her phone. She wanted to hurt Quinn, hurt her like she'd hurt herself.

She needed to calm down.

Tentatively, hands shaking, Rachel pressed **OK** to read the text.

Her heart soared like a balloon and wafted in between the clouds, dancing with the planes and then rocketed higher, it skipped around the moon a couple of times and then was brought back down to earth with the full force of the gravitational pull.

**Text message received: Noah Puckerman**

Rachel sighed and commenced a few breathing exercises just to get her nerves under control. If she was completely honest she was a wreck.

She'd left the house with adequate hair, passable clothes and palpitations.

Her father's couldn't work out what was going on, since when was their lovely, confident, always grounded daughter in a fluster over leaving to meet a _friend_, as Rachel had worded it. She knew she needed to tell her Dad's, but she wanted to make sure that something was actually happening between herself and Quinn before she pointlessly announces herself to her dad's that she likes a _girl_ instead of a guy, to actually find out that their feelings are headed nowhere.

1:45pm

Why had Rachel got there so early? Maybe it was because she'd been prepared for three days in advance had had been up on the elliptical at 5:30am that very morning.

Finally lifting her gaze from her feet she caught her reflection in a nearby car's window. Looking left and right to definitely make sure Quinn wasn't in sight; she took one cautious step forward, then another, and another until she reached the car.

It was a tiny, battered old car. Duct tape held the left wing mirror in place and one if its windscreen wipers bent out at an odd angle.

The afternoon was crisp, it was nearing Fall. It wasn't particularly cold, but if you didn't carry a jumper with you, when the wind really picked up you'd feel rather stupid. Some of the leaves here and there were beginning to change to a fire orange colour and then drop quietly from the branch to fall blissfully to the ground, waiting to be trampled on and kicked by little children.

Rachel had left her hair natural, of which she was now regretting. Due to the slight breeze, her already wavy hair now looked like a birds nest, in Rachel's opinion anyway. It hung loosely over her shoulders, some in front and some down her back. Her fringe, also wavy, was pinned to the right side of her head with a small gold star hair grip. Her signature look.

A cough from behind her startled her, and she jumped.

"Hey," Quinn almost whispered.

How had she not seen Quinn's reflection in the window of the car, she saw her own clearly enough.

She felt stupid now, ridiculous even. She turned and faked a cheery response in which Quinn wasn't falling for.

"Hey, I thought I heard a dog barking and I came to check the car out to see if…" Rachel trailed off into silence when she saw the smile on Quinn's face.

God she was beautiful.

"I didn't think a battered old banger would be your style of car, but then again, if it had an invisible barking dog in the back of it, of course it'd appeal to you," Quinn joked.

Rachel frowned.

"I was merely admiring my reflection as I didn't feel adequately presentable enough to be seen on such an important occasion."

Quinn blushed.

"An important occasion?" Quinn questioned.

It was Rachel's turn to blush.

"Well, um, I thought I'd, well, you know, make an effort seeing it is a date."

"Don't be nervous," Quinn replied, beckoning Rachel towards her, "And you look beautiful by the way," just as she pulled Rachel into a tight embrace.

Rachel turned a shade of magenta that she'd never imagine was possible but only used it as an excuse to bury her head deeper into Quinn's shoulder.

They stood in their embrace for a couple of seconds, but those few seconds were still enough time to inhale each other, to feel each other and to just know that they don't always need to talk to be comfortable with each other.

Rachel's fresh roses perfume hung in the few gaps that were between them and then merged with Quinn's smell of ripe vanilla. They created such a strong infusion you'd think they wouldn't work together, but they do. They fit perfectly.

Rachel and Quinn's body's fit perfectly.

Rachel and Quinn fit perfectly.

* * *

><p>"So, our first official date huh," Quinn said nervously, trying to break the tension between the two girls yet still refusing to look up as she spoke.<p>

"Yeah, its lame I know but I didn't want to push it," Rachel replied also refusing to lift her eyes from her smoothie.

"It's not lame; I just want to be with you. We could have been absolutely anywhere today and where we were wouldn't have mattered to me, it would have been who I was with that did."

Silence.

Oh god, was that too forward Quinn thought to herself? The first date and you still managed to screw it up.

"That's the sweetest thing anybody had ever said to me," Rachel almost whispered finally lifting her gaze to meet Quinn's face.

She is so beautiful, especially when she's nervous, Rachel thought to herself.

Rachel was clutching her smoothie glass with both hands until, that was she slowly slid it across the table to stroke Quinn's.

Goosebumps erupted all over Quinn's body; every fibre inside her was dancing, dancing to Rachel's touch. She felt warm, comforted and Rachel had only stroked her knuckles.

Wanting to return the favour, Quinn let go of her glass and held the hand that had previously been caressing Quinn's knuckles.

Rachel beamed.

Their fingers entwined, stroked and felt each other. Holding hands was such an intimate gesture.

You can kiss and your bodies don't have to even touch.

You can hug and embrace yet it could mean a billion different things.

But when you hold hands it has to be something you both can feel, you both have to reciprocate the feelings, whether it's between friends or lovers, you are holding on, holding on for something. You are linked, you become one, you become a whole.

Silence engulfed the pair again; however it wasn't an awkward silence. It was a comfortable silence, filled with words that just hadn't yet been spoken.

"I saw you down here with Puck a week or so back," Rachel stated with a smile growing on her face.

"You did?" Quinn replied trying to remember when that was and what had happened.

Stupid alcohol.

"Yeah, you looked really happy, you looked yourself again. You linked arms and were acting like a married couple, it was quite adorable actually."

Suddenly the memories came flying back to Quinn, she knew she'd felt someone else's presence, why hadn't she just turned around and run into Rachel's arms.

Seeing the panic stricken look on Quinn's face Rachel quickly continued.

"Don't worry about it; I know nothing is going on between you. It made me smile actually, seeing you at ease. I can't remember when anyone last made you smile like that, of course I had to throw the flowers I'd got you in the trash but that doesn't matter."

"You, you what?" Quinn questioned.

"I had to throw the flowers that I got for you in the bin. Puck mentioned he was meeting you and I thought maybe I could catch you quickly."

Quinn's heart plummeted. She didn't even know what she could say to try and make it better, but then again she didn't need to.

"Quinn, Quinn sweetie, I was joking. The look on your face though was completely priceless. I was there, but not with flowers, although now I wish I was just to get more reactions like this from you."

A huge smile was plastered across Rachel's already radiant face.

Quinn's mind was racing, she didn't know what issue to address first, the fact that Rachel had called her _sweetie_, or the fact that Rachel nearly made her heart stop by making up an awful lie.

"2-1 to me then, I think you'll find. I told you to not get used to it."

Quinn was still so perplexed her mouth just opened and closed like a goldfish, until that is, Rachel leant over the table and pressed a warm set of lips against her own.

Rachel could feel Quinn relax beneath the kiss, but what happened next shocked her, she could feel Quinn smiling behind the kiss.

She does realise we're still in public right? Rachel thought to herself.

Quinn pulled back from the kiss and continued to smile.

"Just because you're winning doesn't mean I won't get you back," Quinn pouted.

"And they say I'm the drama Queen?" Rachel laughed. "Anyway, drink up, this date isn't over yet."

Rachel grabbed Quinn's wrist before she could even swallow the last mouthful of her drink, causing her to nearly choke.

"Don't choke."

"Don't yank my arm out of its socket then," Quinn said while wiping her mouth with a serviette.

"But that's not fun," Rachel laughed.

"You really are full of beans today aren't you?"

"I'm just happy I'm here with you and in all honesty, I reckon you are much more fun with your arm intact if you know what I mean," Rachel finished while winking at Quinn.

"Did you just make an inappropriate comment?" Quinn asked completely oblivious to everything else going on around her.

"Quinn, it's called flirting, I'm pretty sure you are familiar with the term."

"I'm familiar with the term, yes, but I didn't quite think it was in the repertoire of _The Rachel Berry_," Quinn said while miming quotation marks around _The Rachel Berry_.

"Excuse me; I am a perfectly adequate flirt I'll have you know."

"Sorry, did I upset the Queen of Broadway?"

Rachel frowned and nudged Quinn as they wandered across the nearby field.

"Hey, that's abuse!" Quinn shouted.

"Oh yeah, and what are you going to do about it?" Rachel smirked.

"I will wipe that smirk clean off of your face."

"Goodluck," Rachel retorted.

"I don't need luck I'll have you know…wait, oh my god…"

Quinn stopped in her tracks and stared off into the distance. She looked as if she was focussing on a fixed point hovering somewhere about the field, but Rachel couldn't be sure.

"What Quinn, what is it?" Rachel asked nervously.

"No, i-it's probably nothing."

"Quinn you're scaring me what did you see?"

"Well, I think," she paused, craning her neck higher towards the sky, "I think I just saw a cloud in the shape of Barbara Streisand's head."

"What! Where! Why didn't you say before? Point to it Quinn," Rachel shouted whilst craning her neck so far backwards you would have thought it would have either snapped or her entire body would have toppled over backwards.

As Rachel tried to find the nonexistent cloud Quinn took a couple of steps backwards and positioned herself directly behind Rachel and ran at her with her arms out stretched. On collision Rachel screamed and Quinn laughed. She managed to completely lift Rachel off the floor despite Rachel's thrashing and attempts at kicking Quinn.

"Put me down! Don't ever lie to me about Barbara again!"

"Oh please, I can't believe you fell for it," Quinn said as she lowered Rachel's still thrashing body to the ground.

Quinn stood over Rachel's limp body laughing her head off whilst Rachel rolled onto her side sighing.

"2-2 I think you'll find Rach…" Quinn however, was cut off as she felt her legs buckle beneath her; she collapsed on top of Rachel and had to support herself via the shear strength of her well defined abs.

"That is cheating," Quinn said defiantly.

"I didn't know there was a rule book."

"Oh shush you," Quinn said before moving forward and kissing Rachel tenderly on her cheek.

Quinn pulled away and smiled. How on earth had she got this lucky, okay, nothing was official yet, but she wasn't being pushed away either. Rachel stared at the sky studying the clouds watching them creep by due to the slight breeze.

"Sit up quickly," Quinn asked and Rachel did so without even questioning it. Trust. Quinn splayed her arm out and then motioned Rachel to lie back down, and as she did so Quinn wrapped Rachel into her chest. The breeze was slowly turning into a light wind. Rachel shivered. Quinn hugged Rachel tighter hoping that Rachel would take the hint of snuggling in closer. She did. Rachel rested her head on Quinn's chest listening to her heart beat.

"It gets quicker," Rachel said dreamily.

"What does Rach?"

"Your heart beat, when I'm closer it gets quicker, it's as if it's trying to escape or let you know something."

Quinn blushed a deep shade of red; thankfully Rachel couldn't see her face though. Quinn knew her heart beat quicker every time Rachel was nearer, she just couldn't help it. She was the absolute essence of beauty and perfection, but it wasn't something that Quinn was ready to voice just yet.

"Does it?" Quinn questioned as if she'd never noticed it before.

"Yeah, if I'm completely honest it's not the first time I've noticed it either."

Oh God, Quinn thought, she caught me, it's over, she hates it, she thinks you are clingy, she thinks you like her too much. Wait. She hasn't said anything yet, just breathe, she might think it's cute.

Quinn swallowed and just hoped that her lack of response would coax Rachel to carry on talking.

"When we were at Puck's curled up on the couch together I could feel it then. You thought I was asleep, I wasn't. I could feel you tuck the stray hair back behind my ear and I felt you pull the blanket completely over me because you could feel how cold my skin was, but out of everything that wasn't the thing that really made me smile."

Rachel paused hoping Quinn would ask her what really did make her smile. After a couple of minute's silence Rachel clung at Quinn's shirt, balling her fists up and sighed.

She knew Quinn wouldn't resist, and she wasn't wrong either.

"What really made you smile?" Quinn asked despite dying of embarrassment. She had honestly thought that Rachel was asleep. Her breathing had slowed right down and even the movement of pulling the blanket over her hadn't woken her from her slumber. However she couldn't swell on the thought for long because Rachel spoke again.

"You called me beautiful."

"What?" Quinn was in complete shock. She hadn't even meant to have said it, she thought she was just thinking it and even if she had said it, it must have been in a whisper.

"After you covered me in the blanket and tucked the stray hair behind my ear you whispered the word _beautiful_, then you kissed my temple, hugged me just that little bit tighter and started running your free hand over my knuckles. I'm surprised you didn't see my eyes twitch, I wanted to just open them and see the look on your face, to see how much you meant it just by studying your eyes, but I didn't, I wanted to see if you were going to say anything else and you did. You told me you'd wait for me and in that moment I have never felt more special in my life. I know it's a cliché but no one has ever waited for me before, Jesse said he would but he didn't mean it and Finn and Puck, well they didn't mean as much as to me as I originally thought they did."

A tear found its way to Quinn's chin. She quickly brushed it away.

"Don't cry sweetie," Rachel stuttered, "I, I can, you don't mind if I call you that right?"

Quinn sniffed.

"Of course I don't mind, I feel stupid for saying all those things now, why can't you just sleep like normal people," Quinn joked.

"I am a wonderful actress Quinn."

"I know, I always did know, ever since the first glee session we were in together I knew that. You'll be great on Broadway you know."

Rachel sighed.

"I'm not sure that that's where I'm heading anymore."

Quinn was shocked to say the least. For the past god knows how long Rachel had always ranted about how she was going to be an amazing Broadway star yet here she is lying in a field with Quinn telling her that that may no longer be her dream. A thought suddenly flew into Quinn's head and a pang of guilt ricocheted through her body.

What if it was this, which had changed her mind? What if it was herself, Quinn thought.

"It's not because of this is it Rachel because I don't want to stand between you and your dreams. My dreams are gone and I'm just another Lima loser but you aren't. You have so much potential Rachel and you can't just throw it all away. Just think about it before you rule it out for good, please."

Rachel hesitated before saying, "I won't. I promise."

* * *

><p>After spending another hour cloud spotting the girls decided it was getting cold and that they should both head their separate ways.<p>

They walked back across the field hand in hand.

"For the record you are not a Lima loser Quinn."

Quinn didn't reply, after the hardships she'd gone through in just sixteen years even though she was now eighteen, she didn't feel as if she'd got any further than she had back then. But she was working on it, and so long as Rachel was by her side, she'd continue to work on it.

"Rach, you're vibrating."

Rachel stopped, unlocked her hand from Quinn's and pulled her phone from her pocket.

**2 new messages**

"Oh, they are both from Puck, he text me earlier but then you turned up and I completely forgot about it."

_Hey hot Jew. I'm back in town, party at mine 2 Saturdays from now. __**– P**_

The second text read:

_R you ignoring me cause Quinn is getting some Berry juices?__** – P**_

"Noah Puckerman! That dirty minded…" But before Rachel could finish Quinn threw her hand over her mouth as a family with young children just walked past frowning, clearly appalled by Rachel's behaviour and soon to be, language.

"It's Puck, what do you expect?" Quinn replied as she'd read the texts over Rachel's shoulder.

"I suppose you're right."

Rachel punched a text back to Puck whilst secretly wishing that his text was partially true. Hang on. What was she saying? They weren't even official yet and already she was thinking about sexual intentions with Quinn.

Little did Rachel know, Quinn was having similar thoughts. Both girls blushed at the intimate thoughts but didn't question the other; they linked arms and continued their walk back towards the smoothie bar.

* * *

><p>On arriving back at the smoothie bar a familiar face appeared, a smoothie in one hand and a cell phone held up to his ear in the other.<p>

"Yeah, yeah I'll be there soon…No I don't have beer…No! Puck I only just broke up with Rach…Oh hey guys," Finn said as he set eyes upon the brunette and then nodded contently at Quinn.

"Yes Quinn and Rach are here…I'm at the smoothie bar…No I am not getting you one Puck…Yes I've got the game…Yes I'll be there in a minute, bye."

Finn turned to the girls with a smile on his face. He was still upset over his break up with Rachel despite knowing it was for the better, he didn't know however, how close Quinn and Rachel were and how much closer they were soon to become.

"Sorry about that Puck just got back and he wants a Halo marathon," Finn said.

"We won't keep you Finn, it's good to see you though," Rachel replied happily.

"Can I, Can I ask you something Rach, without Quinn I mean, no offense or anything," he quickly said looking frantically at Quinn hoping not to have offended the girl, "It's just, it's about the other night and it's kind of personal."

Rachel removed her arm from Quinn's now vice like grip and asked if it was okay if she spoke with Finn alone.

"Don't worry about it Rach, your cars over there right?" She said pointing a little way down the road.

"Yeah, here are the keys, I won't be long."

Quinn hugged Rachel and whispered, "We still have a date to finish," before letting go and walking casually off in the direction of Rachel's car.

Finn waited until Quinn was out of ear shot to talk to Rachel.

"So how are you?"

"I thought you said this was personal, Finn?"

"It is okay, I just, why does Quinn call you _Rach_ all of a sudden? Why were you linking arms and stuff?"

"We have become better acquainted since the summer has started, it just seems appropriate."

"I don't know what half of that means by how is it appropriate?"

Finn scowled as Rachel tried to form the right words without offending Finn.

"Quinn and I have always had a friendship, if I can call it that. It's been there but we haven't always acknowledged it, and no we have, it's becoming more important to us than what we originally thought it would. I don't want to hurt you Finn, I don't mean too."

"Wait so are you two like together or something?"

"No, it's nothing like that!" Rachel quickly interjected. "Not yet anyway," she trailed off.

"Is that why you broke up with me, because of her?"

"No, that had nothing to do with Quinn. Quinn didn't even know I was going to end it with you."

Finn nodded, tears welled up in his eyes.

"I'm sorry Rach, it's hard that's all, and at the end of Summer I'm going to be staying in Lima and you could be anywhere across America or even overseas. I'll miss you Rach, I'll miss you so much. You will always be my first true love and I know it's just words but I mean it, I really do. If you are happy with her though, it'll take getting used to but I'm happy for you."

Rachel pulled Finn into a hug, leaned up and kissed his cheek.

"Thank-you Finn."

"Can I just ask, when you were with me, were you always looking at her? Has it always been, you know, girls?"

"When I was with you, it was always you Finn, and deep down it always will. I think I refused to see Quinn or any girl for that matter in any other light than just friends because it scared me."

"You should have spoke to me Rach," Finn almost pleaded.

"Everything seemed so perfect at the time; I didn't need that coming into my life and confusing me, making everything harder. I pushed it to the back of my head and pretended that it wasn't happening, its wrong I know and I'm sorry."

"I could never forgive Quinn straight off, it took time and this will be the same, I hope you understand. I'll be civil, that's all."

"It's more than I could ask for," Rachel replied as tears filled her eyes.

"Don't cry Rach, I just need time to adjust, I'll come around, I promise."

"Thank-you Finn."

And with that Rachel kissed Finn's cheek, pulled out of the embrace and walked towards her car. After a couple of steps she stopped and turned around and shouted, "Good luck with your CoD marathon, Finn."

"Halo," Finn corrected, "But thanks Rach, for everything.

* * *

><p>The ride back to Rachel's house was relatively silence. Quinn daren't mention the topic of Finn in case an argument broke out so she stuck with general stuff.<p>

"So what was the rest of our date meant to entail instead of cloud watching?"

"Actually," Rachel replied keeping her eyes on the road, "That was my plan."

Quinn smiled.

After the drama with her mother, Quinn still hadn't got around to getting the present for Rachel, but she knew what she was going to get her now, but it would just have to wait until their next date, as she was almost more than certain there would be one.

* * *

><p>"Hello girls, you must be Quinn," the taller Berry man announced.<p>

"It's lovely to meet you Mr Berry," Quinn replied with an a thousand watt smile.

"Drink Quinn?"

"Yes thank-you."

"Honey, do you want one too?"

"Yeah, thanks Daddy."

Leroy left to get the drinks which left the foyer in complete silence.

"Are you okay?" Quinn asked concerned.

"I'm fine," Rachel replied unconvincingly.

"Why wouldn't my baby girl be fine?" Leroy asked as he returned with a drink in either hand.

"I ran into Finn earlier, that's all, we broke up last week, didn't I tell you?"

Leroy scowled, "No honey you didn't, but it wasn't hard to guess by the way you've been acting. Anyway, aren't you going to invite your girlfriend into the house properly, Rach?"

"Her what, sorry?"

"My what, sorry?"

Rachel and Quinn both said simultaneously.

Hiram appeared from behind Leroy and spoke, "You really think we wouldn't guess? Honey, you haven't shut up about Quinn since that party you went to a couple of weeks back. You spend hours getting ready before you leave to meet you _friend_ and then you come home with a smile stretching from ear to ear."

Both girls blushed.

"Yes, I won't deny that Quinn and I have feelings for one another but we aren't actually _together_. We are just seeing how it goes."

"You owe me $10 then Leroy," Hiram jeered while punching his other halves arm gently.

"You bet on us?" Rachel said, completely appalled by her father's behaviour.

"Well, come on honey, it's just a bit of fun…"

But before Hiram could finish, Quinn interrupted.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt."

"No, you go right ahead Quinn," Leroy said offering a cheery smile.

"With your consent of course," Quinn nodded towards the Berry's, "I'd really like it if you would consider being my girlfriend Rachel."

Rachel's mouth fell open.

Quinn hurried on, "I know today was only our first official date, but I really like you and I think we can be more, if you'll give me that chance that is."

Leroy and Hiram beamed and entwined their hands.

Rachel couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her head wasn't ready but her heart was telling her to jump for it and before she realised what she had said, she'd answered.

"Yes. Yes Quinn, I'd love to be your girlfriend."

The Berry's cheered whilst Quinn pulled Rachel into a tight embrace and whispered in her ear, "I won't let you down, I promise."

Rachel pulled away and kissed Quinn, it was small and innocent but it fitted in perfectly with the moment. Neither girl cared who was present, who was watching or who really cared, because they were happy and for the first time in her life, Quinn was going after something that she wanted, someone she wanted. That someone was Rachel.

Forgetting that they were still being watched, they jumped when Leroy spoke, "I think that's $10 you owe me actually Hiram."

Quinn turned, smiled at the pair and mouthed "Thank-you," to them, Hiram winked and then Leroy dragged him towards the kitchen.

* * *

><p>The girls settled themselves on the couch whilst Leroy and Hiram prepared food for them both. It was early evening yet both the blonde and brunette were exhausted. Quinn had voted for a horror movie as Rachel had picked the film they fell asleep to when they were at Puck's. Rachel wasn't a fan of horror movies but she'd do pretty much anything for Quinn right now. She'd had no idea Quinn was going to ask her to be her girlfriend, she didn't know the blonde was ready for that kind of step, but even if she wasn't ready, they were going to be there for each other, and go through all of it together.<p>

As the film started Rachel's fingers slipped between Quinn's, appreciating every single skin cell on her warm inviting hand. She squeezed it as tight as possible when she cringed at the scary parts of the movie. Quinn wasn't affected but her tight grip matched Rachel's. When Rachel was positive that nothing scary was going to jump out, she'd release her hold, expecting Quinn to let her hand go, but she didn't, and that's when Rachel realised: she didn't want her to.

She never wanted her to.

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><p><strong>Enjoy? Cheeky Rachel ay, and an understanding Finn, opinions?<strong>

Reviews/Criticism, everything is appreciated. Thank-you also for the reviews on my other fiction!

If there is anything that you would like to see in this fanfiction that hasn't yet been addressed, but you'd like to be let me know and I shall do my best!


	26. You are very much mistaken

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Glee or any of the characters**

**Firstly I am so sorry for the long gap between updating. Homework and assignments etc etc are just getting ontop of me at the moment, and to top all of that off I've had writers block.**

**Secondly, I hope this chapter is up to standards, I've gone through and edited parts, added and changed things, so I really hope you enjoy it.**

**Thirdly, thank-you so so much for all the alerts and reviews and favourites and things, I cannot express more how much it means to me.**

**Fourthly, I'll shut up and let you enjoy this chapter, Ooo there's a bit of Puckleberry and Quinntana friendship in this chapter, I hope you don't mind.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 26<strong>

Quinn closed the door as quietly as she could behind her. Delicately walking through the house hoping not to make a sound Quinn peered into every room checking that her mother was in bed. Every room was clear so she headed for the stairs, but before she could climb further than the first one she heard a voice behind her which made her jump.

"Hey Quinnie," Judy almost whispered a tired smile etched on her face.

"I thought you were asleep, I did check all the rooms though, if I knew you were there I would have spoken to you."

"Calm down Quinn, I saw you check all the rooms, I was in the garden."

Quinn looked confused and judging by the expression upon her daughters face Judy decided that she should explain.

"It hit eleven o'clock so I assumed you'd be staying over at Rachel's but I thought you'd text or ring to let me know, and when you didn't I got worried so I thought I'd stay up until twelve thirty at the latest to see if you came home."

Quinn's face fell. The clock on the wall behind her mother read one in the morning.

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine, just let me know next time okay. It's a nice evening outside so I decided to wait out there, if you came in I'd be able to hear you, you aren't exactly light footed despite being a former cheerleader."

Quinn and her mother chuckled in unison.

"Go to bed honey, you look shattered."

Quinn thought it over for a minute before replying.

"Actually, can I talk to you?" Judy's expression didn't change so Quinn continued. "I know it's late but if I don't tell you now I'll keep putting it off and I, well I think you deserve to know."

"Nothing's happened has it honey, you're worrying me a little bit. You and Rachel are okay? She hasn't blown you out has she because I'm afraid there's no ice cream left in the freezer."

Quinn laughed, "No Rachel hasn't blown me out. Stuff has happened though, but in my opinion it's all good, however I'm not sure about your opinion and that's why I want to talk to you."

Judy nodded and pointed towards the lounge.

Quinn and her mother sat next to each other, although, Judy was more relaxed and leaned backwards into the couch, whereas Quinn merely perched herself on the edge of it. Silence engulfed the pair.

Judy had no idea how hard this was for her daughter and she wanted to help her, to coax whatever it was out of her in the least painful way possible. Not knowing how to do so Judy just rested her hand on top of Quinn's and suddenly she felt Quinn relax underneath the touch. All she ever needed was a mother that was there for her, that cared and only her judged her in a way that would benefit her in the future.

Quinn sighed before speaking.

"I respect you and your thoughts and opinions; in a way I wish I had Rachel's skills right now. The ability to talk your mind without stopping or feeling bad about it. Having everything prepared in your head before finding the words to express it, but I'm not Rachel and I don't have a speech prepared and I haven't planned any of this, so could you bare with me for just a few minutes and hear me out?" and as an afterthought Quinn added, "Please."

Quinn swallowed not daring to turn and look her mum in the eyes, petrified that she'd changed her mind about being okay with having a potentially gay daughter. She didn't want to turn and have to look into her mother's eyes and find them full of hurt and confusion, to think that she was possibly contemplating kicking her out again and that's when she felt it. The reassurance she'd always needed, she felt her mum move forwards just far enough to take Quinn's hand bring it to her lips and kiss her knuckles, just like she used to when she was a child and she'd fall off her bike, and it'd give her the courage to stop crying and clamber back on the bike to try again and again and again until she could get it perfect.

It was all Quinn needed, so she continued.

"I hope you believe me when I say this, but I honestly never planned on everything turning out like this, but you are the only family I have and I really do respect you. I know none of this has been easy for you but I can assure you it hasn't been plain sailing for me either."

Both Fabray's smiled.

"I'll just come out with it then." There was a short pause in which Judy held her breath and Quinn screwed her eyes up. "Rachel and I are together."

Quinn opened her eyes knowing that the hardest part was over. This time she wanted to turn to her mother even more, to read her face, to read what was going on behind her eyes but she was so scared of what she'd see she continued to look at the floor.

"I'm happy for you Quinn."

Quinn turned to her mother who was smiling. Her eyes suddenly so alight with life as if flowers had started to grow after so many years of being assumed dead and vacant.

"Like you said it's been hard for both of us, adjusting, changing, but we've got through it and we've got through it because we did it together. I'll be honest, I found it hard at first but if I've said it once, I've said it a hundred times before, you are my daughter and I love you regardless of who you are, who you love and what you want in your life. I'm not going back to what your father reduced me to and I'm in no way going to pressure you into telling people who you don't want to."

Quinn returned the smile, but then it faltered as a thought had just hit her. Her dad.

"You don't have to tell him if you don't want to Quinn."

How did she know? Quinn thought to herself. She didn't know what to say so she just nodded and reciprocated her mother's small speech by lying back into the couch and then leaning into her mother's side. Judy stroked Quinn's hair as silence engulfed them once more. It was a comfortable silence, everything was out there now, there was no going back, but even if she had the choice, Quinn didn't want to go back to how it was. She didn't want to hide from those who loved her anymore. She didn't want to pretend to be who she wasn't for the sake of someone else's happiness. If Rachel and her mother had taught her one thing, it was that your own happiness should come before anything else, it's selfish, but once you are happy everything else will fit into place around you.

And she was right, Rachel had never been more right about anything in her entire life.

Her eyes fluttered close and Judy could sense her daughter's sleepiness, so she continued to stroke her hair soothing her into a state of unconscious. It reminded her of all the times she'd sneak into Quinn's room in the middle of the night when Russell was in the equivalent of an alcohol induced coma. She'd lie behind Quinn stroking her hair whispering in her ear about how everything would change soon, Quinn never woke up. Even if she didn't know that her mother was there Judy would always know that she was there, and that she was there for her daughter more than anyone else knew.

* * *

><p>"Quinn is a lovely girl Rachel and she seems to really care about you, however I am sorry if your dad or I got her into trouble with her mother last night by keeping her here so late," Hiram said after taking a sip of his coffee.<p>

Rachel didn't answer at first, it wasn't deliberate though, in all honesty she was just completely shattered from the night before and her cheeks were beginning to ache from the amount she'd been smiling.

Half heartedly she answered, "I'm sure it's fine," before continuing to stare off into space.

"Sweetie."

Rachel jumped.

"Someone was away with the fairies," Hiram chuckled as he leaned in and kissed Leroy chastely on the cheek.

"Sorry, my mind is just preoccupied that's all dad and daddy."

"Would you like to talk about it honey?" Leroy asked a little concerned.

"It's just, I really like Quinn, I adore her and I know we've only been on one proper date but what about the future?" Rachel blushed.

"I thought you were all up for going to New York?"

Rachel stared at the floor.

"Honey?"

"I'm not so sure anymore."

"Wait hang on, let me get the baseball bat," Hiram said as he leapt out of his seat. Rachel and Leroy just exchanged bewildered looks.

A few minutes passed and Hiram returned laying a baseball bat on the kitchen work top.

"Hiram, really? What is the need for this?" Leroy questioned.

"Rachel is questioning her future in New York, she's had this planned out since she was ten, an apocalypse must have happened, I'm just waiting for the zombies to break through the door," Hiram joked as he pointed towards the bat.

Rachel shot Hiram an exasperating look whilst Leroy stood up, walked over to Rachel and patted her on the shoulder.

"Whatever you decide we'll _both_ be happy with honey," Leroy said sending a stern look to his other half who just shrugged before drinking the dregs of his coffee.

_*ringtone*_

Rachel didn't know what to do first, whether to answer her phone and thank the person for their impeccable timing for rescuing her from an infuriating situation or whether to answer her phone and to shout at the person for disrupting a family breakfast. Luckily the latter wasn't an option as both her father's had left the room two minutes prior.

Pressing the accept button on her phone she was still completely oblivious to whose name was flashing on the front screen.

Puck.

Rachel frowned when he began to talk, not that she didn't want to talk to him of course, because she did it was just that she'd have much rather the call been from her girlfriend. Yes. She could call Quinn her girlfriend now and not just in fantasies. Not that she had fantasies of Quinn being her girlfriend of course. Rachel blushed at the thought.

"Hey hot jew are you listening to me or what?"

"Sorry Noah I was just thinking."

"About anything hot, or should I say _anyone_ hot, or should I say a smokin' hot blo…"

Rachel could sense Puck's smirk at the other end of the phone and stopped him mid sentence.

"Do not talk about my girlfriend like that," she snapped.

Crap. She said girlfriend. Maybe Puck already knew? Quinn wouldn't mind would she, it's only one person and she did have a baby with him after all. Ah. She had a baby with him, because she trusted him under false pretences. Shit.

"Do not talk about _who_ exactly?" Puck asked casually.

"Nothing, I said nothing, I most definitely didn't say anything," Rachel said as a crimson wave gushed down her cheeks. Why she was blushing she had no idea, it wasn't as if Puck could see her.

"No I'm almost sure you said…" But once again Rachel cut across him.

"You are very very much mistaken Noah, you definitely misheard me. I'm busy so if you'd like to le…"

This time it was Puck's turn to cut across Rachel.

"You aren't busy because I know for a fact Quinn is still in bed and she is the only person you've hung out with for the last few weeks, minus dumping Finn, which doesn't really count. I know about you and Quinn, she told me."

Rachel was left speechless and judging by the silence Puck knew he should continue talking and quickly, if he had any hope in explaining himself before being dragged into a lecture on the privacy of other people's lives.

"She didn't say you two were together or anything, it was a couple of weeks ago, she needed someone to talk to. She was scared so don't hate her for telling me. I don't have that much knowledge on genuine feelings but I tried to help the best I could, I told her to go and get you and judging by your defensiveness about thirty seconds back, she did exactly what I said."

Rachel contemplated her words before she spoke. Puck had always been there for her, even when she hadn't needed it, just like he had been for Quinn. He was like the brother she'd always wished for. Okay, he isn't perfect and never will be but that is what is so charming about him, he's his own person and he still tries his best to help others.

Usually, well, in most situations to be honest, Puck would always be there, he wouldn't know what to say or do as a matter of fact, but he wouldn't leave. Even if he just stood there rocking backwards and forwards on the balls of his feet occasionally pummelling his fists together, he'd still wait, his presence would still be felt, and although he would never make a grand gesture, the silence itself was a gesture of kindness. Kindness and acceptance. He wouldn't question them so he didn't get questioned back, he'd stand there for them when they needed it, in hope that they would return the favour one day.

"Thank-you Noah."

Puck, confused, pondered briefly over Rachel's silence and when he decided that he had no idea what he was being thanked for, questioned it.

"For what?"

"Being there."

"Hey you're one fine looking jew, I got your back."

"You don't have to act like that around me Noah, although we are on the phone I know that you are sitting on your bed twiddling your thumbs together in the minutes that pass us with silence. I know that you don't always know what to say but you wish you did. I always know what you're thinking even if you hide it under your muscles and Mohawk."

Puck laughed at the latter part but stopped abruptly when he realised he was indeed twiddling his thumbs.

"It's cool, I'm your bro and although things are a little tough on Finn right now, I know he's still your bro too."

Rachel chuckled.

"Thank-you, so why did you call?" Rachel asked having being completely side tracked by their out of the blue conversation.

"I just wanted to know if you were still coming to mine in two Saturday's time."

If Quinn is going I'll go, Rachel thought to herself but before Rachel could reply Puck was talking again.

"And before you say _I'm only going if Quinn's going_ Quinn is going. So I'll ask again, are you coming or what?"

A volcanic rush of scarlet red lava engulfed Rachel's cheeks once again.

"Yes, I will be there. Is there a theme to this fancy dress?"

"Nope. Oh and by the way my house is allergic to argyle so if you turn up in any you'll have to strip at the door and you know who will love that," Puck joked internally laughing at his own humour.

"You are just hilarious Noah, and I'll have you know that Quinn and I have not engaged in any sexual encounter but even if we had you would definitely be the last to know."

Mock offended Puck retorted, "Not fair, you know all my sex stories."

"Not out of choice!" Rachel shouted screwing her face up trying to eradicate the thoughts and images that were now being processed in her brain.

"You love it and anyway Quinn wouldn't be the only one who'd like you naked, even though you bat for the other team you are still one hot Jew to me; and to Finn," he paused, "And to Brittany and probably even Sant…"

"Okay, okay I get the point no argyle unless everyone wants a _lets-watch-Rachel-Berry-strip-parade_."

"And we do of course," Puck smirked.

"No chance Noah, thanks for calling though."

"Anytime hot stuff."

"Goodbye Noah."

And with that Rachel pressed the glowing red button to terminate the call.

* * *

><p>Rounding the corner Quinn felt free, the breeze was blowing through her hair and it tickled her skin as she quickened her pace. Everything was perfect in the world of Quinn Fabray at the moment, well almost perfect. It was a couple of weeks until Puck's party and she was still completely stuck on what to wear. She didn't want to wear something <em>too<em> revealing but she didn't want to wear something as if she'd been born and bred in a nunnery.

Something casual but sophisticated.

Something sexy but subtle.

Usually in a situation like this she would call upon the help of Rachel, but for once she wanted to surprise her and prove that she could in fact do something properly on her own.

"Hey Juno," Santana shouted.

Okay, almost on her own.

As Quinn neared the bench that the latina was currently occupying she could make out Santana's facial expressions, and they weren't happy ones.

"This is the second time in the last two weeks that I have had to cancel sweet lady kisses to see _you_ and to help _you_ out of _your_ situation. Why can't Berry help?"

"I want it to be a surprise," Quinn mumbled.

"Sorry Q I didn't quite catch your pathetic mumble."

"I want it to be a surprise," Quinn said more defiantly raising her gaze to meet the latina's.

"Okay a surprise it can be, but it is not, I repeat _not_ going to be bedazzled, got it tubber's?"

Even if she wanted to she wouldn't have argued back. She'd been launched across the halls of McKinley one too many times to dare put a foot out of line around the latina again, well, unless necessary of course.

Santana jumped off of the bench with a sudden surge of great enthusiasm. The frown that quickly turned into a sly grin unnerved Quinn slightly.

"Why are you grinning like that?" Quinn asked starting to really consider making up an excuse and leaving the latina to the rest of her day.

"Q, Q, Q," Santana started as she wrapped her arm around her best friends shoulders pulling Quinn closer to herself than Quinn actually wanted to be, but unless she wanted her head bitten off, Quinn stayed silent and let the latina carry on.

"Would I ever grin like this if I didn't have a plan up my sleeve?"

"You are wearing a strapless dress so I hardly doubt you have something _up your sleeve_."

Quinn thought this retort was rather witty and was laughing inside until the latina impaled her arm with a hard fist.

"Hey, don't play smart with me tubber's, do you want help or not?"

Not wanting to answer, Quinn vowed to stay silent until they reached the costume store.

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><p>The brunette and blonde entered the store greeted only by the tinkling sound of the bell situated above the door, letting the shop keeper know who had entered the shop. The store itself was relatively empty apart from a small group of girls, possibly in their mid twenties Quinn assumed, looking at the floor plan hanging on the wall just to the right of the cashier's desk. Odd stragglers were dotted around the ground floor however not looking remotely interested in the outfits they were observing.<p>

"Quinn there's two floors, I'll take the top one you take the bottom one and we'll meet in ten minutes or so, if you see something you like just pick it up and we will try it on."

"I haven't got all day to just try on outfits Santana, I just need any old thing and then we're off."

Someone coughed behind them. A fat balding man frowned as the two girls turned to face him. The buttons on the blue shirt he was wearing were straining under the immense pressure of weight that was being pushed against them. He wiped his heavily sweating brow with his sleeve before attaining what he thought, was a rather intimidating pose. Both his hands lay on where his hips would be if they weren't buried under yards of fat and he attempted to make himself taller than what his rough 5ft 8 stature would normally be.

"If you think my outlet is full of 'any old things' then feel free to use the door that you just entered through."

Quinn looked slightly taken aback. She didn't mean for anyone to take what she said personally, least of all the shop keeper. If the worst happened and she couldn't find anything she'd shred some of her old clothes, apply fake blood and pale make-up and turn up to Puck's as a rather battered looking zombie.

"Excuse me fat man, we have entered your store intent on buying something, and by the looks of it," the latina scanned the ground floor over his shoulders before continuing, "you need all the sales you can get, so would you shut up, budge your arse and let us continue with our day unless you want that walking cane over there, "she pointed behind him" rammed up your…"

"Okay, okay I think he got it Santana."

Santana gave Quinn the death glare for interrupting her before walking towards the stairs in the far left hand corner of the shop.

"Leave us alone, comprende?"

The man gulped before turning away and hurrying, well, waddling towards the shelter of the cashier's desk.

"You have ten minutes Q so gets going," and with that the latina jumped the stairs two at a time quickly disappearing from the blondes sight.

The blonde surveyed the shop in one eye movement and the ground floor was packed top to bottom with every outfit and costume you could ever possibly think of all under a variety of different categories and group names.

It would have been so much easier if Puck had themed the fancy dress, but no, Puck wouldn't use the only few brain cells of initiative he had.

Quinn pulled out her phone and gulped.

Two minutes had gone and she was still standing in the same spot as when Santana had left her simply gawking at the costumes and bright colours before her.

Shit, she thought, where do I start?

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><p><strong>So what do you think? Criticisms? Comments? Reviews? Please? I have a few ideas on what every characters costume would be, but if you have any ideas of costumes for set characters, or anything you want included in the final chapters, feel free to let me know!<strong>

**I'd love to shake the story up one more time before it ends!**

**There won't be many more chapters after this, 3 maybe 4, depends how it turns out. **


	27. Promise me something

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Glee or any othe characters.**

**Happy late Christmas or Happy early Christmas depending on how you view it. I'm so sorry for the almost month long wait for this update but it is here now! It is a late/early christmas present to you all.**

**I apologise for the length of the chapter, but I'm hoping the length makes up for the fact I haven't updated for a while.**

**Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 27<strong>

Quinn continued to stare aimlessly at the now empty shop. The few stragglers previously occupying the space had paid and left. Wrenching her phone from her pocket alarm bells rang in her head causing her to panic. The screen of her phone was telling her that five minutes had already passed and despite Santana picking her up late for that party at Puck's a couple of weeks back, she always stuck to time limits.

Deciding that she should probably move instead of staying in the comatose state of panicking, Quinn reluctantly dragged her feet to the nearest isle.

The sign above the isle read _Halloween_.

Ah, Quinn thought, that's one section I don't need to look in. About to turn away suddenly something colourful caught her eye. As she made her way towards the slightly flamboyant costume she realised that five minutes was never going to be long enough and she'd soon have a fiery latina breathing down her neck shouting at her heart's content. Quinn picked up the colourful number and a scowl crept across her face. Since when was a Mexican poncho and sombrero worn as a Halloween costume?

Putting it back on the rack Quinn decided that she should pick up a floor plan guide that were scattered over various surfaces.

Ground Floor:

Halloween

Parties (real specific Quinn thought to herself whilst rolling her eyes in a very bored manner."

Quinn's eyes continued to scan the ground floor list until two particular categories stuck out to her.

Musicals. Horror.

They are on two opposite ends of the spectrum but both costumes would do her favours. The musical section for example offered costumes and outfits for some of the top musicals of all time and that would really catch Rachel's attention. However, horror was more Quinn's forte although Rachel hated it, but before Quinn continued her mental debate a familiar-sarcastic-pretending-to-be-innocent cough could be heard from behind her. Taking a deep breath in, Quinn turned around ready to face the wrath of the latina.

"I hope you are ready because Brit is waiting back at hers with cream and ice cubes," Santana said, rather calmly, but Quinn could still sense a hint of malice behind the false smile.

"Um, actually…"

If I have to postpone sweet lady kisses for a third time, you won't even have legs to be able to attend Puck's party. You'll be more crippled than wheels and I even I didn't think that was possible until now."

"That's a horrible thing to say Santana, take it back."

"But…"

"No Santana, you can't laugh at or use other people's misfortunes as a joke; I thought you'd understand that, especially how you were treated after you came out. Remember how tough it was? Yeah, you didn't like it did you, it hurt and it sucked and imagine how you'd have felt if someone had kicked you when you were down. I lost my virginity, got pregnant, got kicked out, gave my baby up for adoption and then have her waved in my face, no one ever took pity on me, people still took digs, the only person for me, I mean properly there for me, was you. I returned the favour, not even a favour, friendship to be exact when you were struggling with your family coming to terms with your sexuality. If you think it's funny to take the piss out of Artie's disability then that's fine but you just lost yourself a friend, a friend that never once left you despite all the crap you put her through, but more than that, you'll have lost your only friend. You're lonely, yeah you have Brittany, but if you didn't have her you'd be a lonely mess having sex with girls and probably guys to make yourself feel better and you'd want someone to help, but I wouldn't be there. If I wanted to laugh at you when you were in the dirt, I would have, but I didn't, because I'm better than that and deep down Santana you're better than that as well. So just think okay. Just think."

Stunned by her own outburst of frustration Quinn quickly shut up and judging by the latina's ever growing frown she was right to. The pair stood in silence, it wasn't the first time but at least this time was comfortable. Quinn could tell that Santana was slowly processing what she'd said and as the frown began to loosen Quinn pulled her closest friend into a hug. Santana didn't resist and as the seconds passed painfully the blonde could feel Santana's grip tighten just that little bit more, as if she was holding onto something, holding onto something important that she could never afford to lose.

Unconditional love and the best and probably only friendship she'd ever had.

Quinn could feel the latina's grip loosening so she made to pull away but she was stopped by a sudden tightening grip again. Quinn leaned into the hug a little bit more no longer as if she was imposing on Santana's personal space.

"I'm sorry," Santana muttered but as she did so her voice broke and Quinn could instantly tell she was crying but didn't want to show it.

Quinn rubbed her back comfortingly waiting for her friend to stop.

"I'm sorry," Santana repeated a little more controlled this time.

"It's fine," Quinn said back, trying to comfort the latina still.

"What will I do after this summer Q, you'll be off god knows where and I'll be somewhere else. Yeah, chances are I'll have Brit but she isn't you Q, no one can replace you."

Quinn smiled into Santana's shoulder and joked, "I didn't know you were so sentimental."

Santana pulled out of the hug quickly, wiping her eyes hoping that the blonde didn't notice and playfully punched Quinn in the shoulder.

"I'll always be here Santana, whenever you need me. Always."

Not wanting to make the situation any more awkward for herself and not knowing what else to say to thank Quinn for how much she'd done for the latina, she just held out her hand and said, "Let's get you a kick butt outfit for Puck's."

* * *

><p>"You can put that down right now Q, there is no way in hell you are wearing that, that's something Berry would wear," Santana said after ten minutes of silent browsing picking up whatever looked of interest to the blonde.<p>

"But," Quinn tried to protest.

"Are you married?"

"Well no."

"Then you cannot dress like her until you are."

"Maybe I'll propose," Quinn said straightening the witches outfit out on its hanger before reluctantly returning it to the rail.

"I know we dropped you a few times in practise Q, but never enough to cause that kind of completely insane and absolutely astronomically ridiculous idea that would also be leading you to have a catastrophically early midlife crisis at the tender age of eighteen."

Quinn frowned but quickly piped up, "Wow, you used words longer than four letters long Santana, would you like a medal?"

Santana almost threw herself at the blonde but stopped herself realising that actually, she owed her one, for what, she didn't have a clue, but there was probably, actually, more than definitely something.

Twenty minutes later the girl's arms were laden with a variety of multi-coloured outfits for both to try on. Santana went first trying on each costume, one after the other either turning her nose up at the reflection of herself or nodding approvingly when she found one she liked. Despite asking for the blonde's advice she didn't actually listen or acknowledge anything that she said.

"Okay, you have one left," Quinn said gesturing towards the tight red outfit that was hanging over the chair just as Santana walked out of the changing area.

"I didn't even pick that one and anyway I already have a favourite so just leave it and start trying yours on."

"I really think you should try it on just in case. What's your favourite anyway?"

"Cat woman."

"Because it's leather let me guess?"

Santana grinned, "What? You actually expected me and Brit not to be occupying one of Puck's bedrooms for the entire night?"

Quinn just rolled her eyes in response before saying, "Look I picked that last outfit out for you so can you at least just try it on to humour me?"

"Fine," Santana snapped before grabbing the skin tight and rather revealing outfit and returning to the cubicle.

A couple of minutes passed before Quinn heard Santana swear.

"You did this fucking deliberately Q!"

"I don't know what you mean," Quinn replied innocently as the curtain was ripped back and an angry latina stepped out in a bright red skin tight dress which attained a devil's tail that curled up the back of the dress forming the zipper.

"Don't lie to me Q, you are just lucky I love it," as Santana's grimace turned to a grin.

Little do Santana know that Quinn had had her eye on the dress as soon as she'd entered the shop, but she couldn't make it blatantly obvious the reason as to why she wished the latina wear it. Her nickname was 'Satan' after all; this was just a derivative of that.

Quinn stood up and handed two other parts of the costume to the latina before picking up her own costumes and heading to the cubicle of which Santana had just left.

A pair of devil horns attached to a black hair band and a devil's pitch fork.

* * *

><p>The latina and the blonde had paid and left the store relatively quickly as the fat balding man still didn't seem overly impressed with them. Santana had blown him a kiss goodbye before Quinn had pulled her out of the door.<p>

"What's Brittany going as?" Quinn asked genuinely interested.

"She wants it to be a surprise," Santana replied bluntly.

"Oh come on S," Quinn pleaded.

"Nope, I respect my lady's wishes."

"Well it must be something sensible or otherwise you would have dragged her along too to get a better outfit," Quinn retorted trying to lure the brunette into a surprise response.

"It is an outfit perfectly suited for her personality, stop trying to get it out of me because you are wasting your breath," Santana said as she turned to send a genuine smile to the blonde.

"Fine," Quinn mumbled as they continued walking down the street.

Just before the girls parted their separate ways they stopped to talk.

"So are you telling Berry what your costume is or what?"

"No I want it as a surprise," Quinn replied.

"Fair enough. If I'm honest I'm pretty impressed by your choice of costume," the latina said before continuing, "even Berry should approve, it's sexy, yet subtle, yet," she paused, "very Berry."

Both girls laughed before hugging and heading their separate ways.

* * *

><p>"What happened to that money that I gave you the other week honey?" Judy shouted as she heard her daughter closing the front door.<p>

"I got something for Rachel," Quinn replied.

Judy beamed but composed her facial expressions before lifting her gaze to meet Quinn, who smiled sweetly back at her mother.

"I'll pay you back, I promise."

"No I wasn't asking for that reason, I just didn't want the money going on drugs," Judy laughed.

Quinn frowned.

"Sorry, Quinnie I should have trusted you." Judy's face faltered.

"Hey, it's fine mum," Quinn replied as she sat next to her mother playfully punching her in the arm. "I'll show you if you like?"

"You really," Judy paused, "You don't have to."

It was too late; Quinn had already jumped off of the couch and bounded up the stairs two at a time to her room. She wrenched her bedside drawer open and picked up the medium sized square box before ramming it shut again and leaping back down the stairs.

By the time Quinn reached the living room again she was out of breath and slightly red in the face. She threw the box at her mother who was so taken aback that she missed catching it and instead of being safe in the older blondes hands, plummeted to the floor before landing with a timid thud on the Fabray's living room floor.

Both Fabray's stared.

"I'm so sorry Quinnie," Judy started but was interupted by Quinn.

"Stop apologising for everything mum, its fine okay," the younger blonde replied before bending down and picking up the tiny box.

After a brief inspection Quinn said, "See it's fine, no damage done."

Judy smiled and took the box from her daughter's hand, carefully prizing off the lid.

Judy gasped as her eyes fell on the item within the box. Her eyes quickly snapped to her daughters who were studying the floor before breathing out, "Oh Quinnie, it's beautiful."

Quinn lifted her eye line to meet her mothers, her eyes swimming with tears. Judy beckoned her daughter closer and wiped the stray tear that threatened to fall the full length of Quinn's cheek.

"That must have cost a fortune; the money I gave you didn't cover that. How much more and I'll pay it."

Quinn shook her head, "It just covered the engraving."

"I'll give you the money back."

Quinn protested, "No mum, I want to do this. I want to do this for her. I love her mum, I really do."

Judy smiled and pulled her daughter in for a hug before pushing the box back into Quinn's hands then tightly clasping them in her own.

Everything was going to be alright.

* * *

><p>Rachel lay back on her bed staring at the ceiling in complete silence. It was an unusual account for Rachel to be in her room with music on but she was too preoccupied with thoughts of Puck's party and what to wear than to be worrying about her pitch when singing along to Barbara Streisand.<p>

There were so many possibilities of what she could wear but she had to only choose one. One. Rachel never chose one of anything. She'd attend Glee with the minimum of fifteen song choices, that way she covered all the chances of everyone else in the club singing the songs she'd prepared.

Rachel closed her eyes and thought hard about an appropriate costume.

Nothing too extravagant. Nothing too old fashioned.

Nothing over thought. Something clever. Something original. Something Berry.

Time passed with patterns dancing in front of Rachel's closed eye lids, but every time she came close to nearly deciding a costume for the party, other thoughts invaded her head.

More specifically, Quinn invaded her head.

After another ten minutes of getting no further than deciding she wasn't wearing leather Rachel gave up thinking, reached for her phone and punched in a familiar number.

* * *

><p>"Hello?"<p>

"It's me, Rachel."

"I never would have guessed when your name flashed up on my phone asking if I wanted to accept that call," Quinn replied bluntly with a hint of humour.

Rachel chuckled.

"Sorry, if you are busy I'll call later," Rachel said hesitantly, not wanting to disturb the girl but at the same time not wanting said girl to be busy.

"I've always got time for you Rach," Quinn replied, blushing at cheesiness of what she'd just said.

A silence fell over the pair but was quickly broken by Rachel who was eager to ask the question that had been bugging her for nearly a week.

"What are you wearing to Puck's fancy dress party?" Rachel blurted out.

Quinn laughed at how eager and desperate the girl sounded, "I can't say."

Rachel stopped in her tracks and nearly choked on the water she'd just taken a sip of.

"What? Hang on. No wait, I, what? You know what you are wearing," Rachel finally finished.

"Yes, you sound a bit surprised though."

"Surprised! Of course I'm surprised. You have impeccable dress sense but I thought you would have at least discussed it with me first," Rachel said brashly.

"Santana helped, I wasn't completely alone."

"You asked for Satan…Santana's help?" Rachel asked completely stunned, not quite believing what she was hearing.

"Rach, she has been my best friend for countless years now."

"I know that I just, I thought you'd have asked me," Rachel said sounding completely dejected.

Quinn sighed and started to feel bad for not talking to her girlfriend about it, until another thought crept into her head. If she'd discussed it with Rachel, it wouldn't be a surprise, and her master plan wouldn't work. After these few thoughts Quinn didn't feel quite so bad anymore and decided to focus on making Rachel feel better.

"Would you like the truth?"

"Of course I do Quinn."

"Then truthfully I didn't want your assistance…" Quinn was cut off by Rachel nearly screeching but she continued calmly and clearly and Rachel soon stopped being melodramatic.

"I didn't want your assistance because I want my outfit to be a surprise for you. I wanted to surprise my girlfriend. Is that such a crime?"

Rachel smiled when Quinn called her her girlfriend and she suddenly felt bad for even contemplating berating the girl.

"Sorry, I didn't think."

"Its fine sweetie, now why did you call?"

"I don't know what to wear."

"Rachel Berry doesn't know what to wear? You have three days, are you sure you have enough time to weigh up all your options," Quinn joked.

"Haha, while I appreciate your humour, I'm not finding the situation anywhere near as funny as you clearly do."

"Sorry, do you have any ideas?"

"Well I was going to go as a character from a musical; I wouldn't be me if I went as anyone else."

Quinn laughed at her girlfriend's honesty.

"You are probably right. There's loads of people you could go as, pick an obscure one though, one that people wouldn't immediately associate you with."

"Good thinking Quinn, I think I have it then."

"Let's hear it?"

"That would be telling, Quinn," Rachel teased, "If you are allowed sordid secrets then so am I."

"Oh come on it's hardly sordid," Quinn protested.

"My lips are sealed," Rachel said defiantly as she could sense Quinn's jealousy.

"What happens if I was really persuasive, would you consider telling me then?" Quinn tried.

"Depends on how persuasive you were," Rachel replied, eager for Quinn to continue.

"Really persuasive," Quinn said in a low purr.

"Sexual favours aren't required in this instance Quinn."

A tad gobsmacked Quinn replied, "And why not?"

"Because you already have me. I'm already yours; you don't need to lure me in to you with sexual advances because I'm already there and when we get to that stage of our relationship, it will be magical because we will both be ready, we'll be ready together. If I'm honest, right now I'm not ready and although joking about it is perfectly fine, I want you to respect my decision of waiting until I'm ready."

Quinn was left speechless. She was in awe of her girlfriend. How could she get anyone more perfect?

"Rachel honey, you are absolutely amazing. Your honesty is faultless and I completely respect your decision," Quinn paused, "and if I'm honest, I'm not there yet either."

Rachel and Quinn continued their conversation late into the night and it ended when Quinn fell asleep and Rachel had to text her wishing her sweet dreams.

* * *

><p>Quinn awoke with a start wondering why she was still fully clothed and wondering why she had to peel her phone from her face. Suddenly the previous night hit her like a brick in the face.<p>

Shit, I fell asleep on my own girlfriend, Quinn thought to herself.

After reading the text Rachel had sent her the night before Quinn replied asking her if she wanted to go out for the day.

Quinn was shocked that her phone vibrated just after the text had sent with Rachel's reply.

_I'd love to spend the day with you. Meet you in the park at 11:30? __**– R**_

_Wow, quick reply. Were you waiting for me to text you? 11:30 is good. X __**– Q**_

Rachel blushed at Quinn's response, yes she had been waiting for the blonde to text but she wasn't about to admit it.

_Would I do such a thing :P ?_ _**– R**_

_It would be typical Berry is all I'm saying x__** – Q**_

_See you at 11:30 :D __**– R**_

Quinn chuckled at Rachel's deliberate evasion of the response but brushed it off as if it was nothing.

* * *

><p>The girls spent the day holding hands, roaming the various park walks that were on offer and talking to their hearts content. Quinn finally got it out of Rachel that she was attending Puck's party as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, which impressed Quinn.<p>

However, Rachel had assumed that if she told Quinn, Quinn would give in, but being her stubborn old self Quinn continued to refuse her girlfriends wishes of knowing her costume.

After four hours of solid walking, the pair collapsed on a bench opposite Brittany's favourite lake that was currently swarmed with ducks. Little children threw chunks of bread into the lake. Parents held onto toddler's hands just in case they ventured to close to the edge and some teenagers sat on the edge of the rocks surrounding the lake dangling their feet into the cool water.

Rachel entwined her hand with her girlfriends and leaned her head on Quinn's shoulder. The pair sat in a comfortable silence observing the scenes happening in front of their eyes.

A toddler nearly fell in the lake and was soon scolded by their panic stricken mother. The teenagers dispersed in various directions of the park and finally, as the evening began to set in, the ducks also dispersed but only to the shelter of the reeds.

"I hope we're like that one day," Rachel muttered to Quinn before leaning up and kissing her cheek.

Quinn smiled and wished she could keep the butterflies in her stomach at bay but it was no use. She was just too excited and happy at Rachel's presence for the butterflies to cease.

"What having children falling in lakes?" Quinn joked squeezing her girlfriends hand tighter.

"We'd have to have children before they have the chance to fall in a lake."

"We'll have millions of them," Quinn replied her smile stretching from ear to ear.

"You mean that?" Rachel asked sitting up properly and turning to look her girlfriend in the eyes.

"Well not millions, no, but children, yeah of course."

Rachel leaned in to kiss her girlfriend and was met half way by Quinn's warm, soft lips. They shared a long passionate kiss before Rachel broke it, by talking.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course you can," Quinn answered as she put a protective arm around the brunettes shoulder.

"Actually, two," Rachel blushed.

"You can ask as many as you like," Quinn chuckled.

"I know you love Beth, but doesn't what happened the first time, scare you about having children again?"

Rachel new it was risky, but she'd always wanted to ask, and now that they were much closer she felt that she had enough courage to ask.

Quinn was slightly taken aback at first so didn't reply straight away but after taking a few minutes to articulate her answer she replied.

"I think having Beth taught me that _being ready_ is something people really take for granted. Everyone talks about being ready for their first kiss, for losing their virginity, for having children, but you can never know how ready you are until it happens. And that's a hard thing to comprehend, you have to be ready to take the risk not be ready for the task or obstacle itself. I thought I was ready. I was a cheerleader. I was fearless, but the fault of being fearless is that the fearlessness and popularity obscures your thoughts and your occupation convinces you into something you aren't actually ready for. I made a mistake, a huge one, but I love Beth and I'll never give up on her. It really opened my eyes to the future and one day," Quinn paused, "One day I'll be completely ready to take the risk, to take every risk, but I'll be prepared for the repercussions and I'll be prepared for failure and heartbreak."

Rachel looked in awe up at her girlfriend. A tear rolled down Rachel's cheek. Quinn used her thumb to wipe away the tear and then kissed the path that it left down the brunette's cheek.

"You never cease to surprise me Quinn Fabray," Rachel whispered before kissing the blondes forehead.

"One day, I'll be ready Rach and do you want to know how I'll know when I'm ready?"

Rachel stayed silent and merely nodded.

"I'll know I'm ready when I look into your eyes and I see that confident glint that you always have whenever you perform a song."

The brunette's mouth open and closed but no sound came out.

Quinn giggled at Rachel's speechlessness.

"That's 2-2," Quinn joked.

Rachel punched her arm before pulling her into a tight embrace.

"You really mean that?"

"Every word of it. I love you Rachel Berry, and until that isn't enough, I hope you will always be by my side, because I sure as hell will be beside yours."

"Then lets pray it's always enough," Rachel smiled into her girlfriends shoulder.

* * *

><p>Another hour passed of pointless banter between the pair before Quinn remembered something Rachel had said earlier.<p>

"Hey Rach, you said you had two questions earlier, you only asked one."

"Oh yeah, I forgot, I was only going to ask what happened to you that night you ran off?"

Quinn's face fell, she'd forgotten about that.

"Well, honestly, I got lost and then fell in a lake."

Rachel laughed before calming herself down, "I'm sorry I caused you to fall in a lake."

"It's fine, it's in the past okay," Quinn smiled.

"I tried to go with Puck and Santana you know, Santana threatened to take my knee caps off with a golf club though so I didn't want to push it."

Quinn pressed a light kiss onto Rachel's lips, "It's fine okay, I forgive you, now let's just call it a blip in the process of you becoming my girlfriend."

"Okay," Rachel chuckled.

After another half an hour of jokes and questions the evening air engulfed the girls and they decided they should start heading their separate ways home. Rachel however, was determined to walk Quinn home like 'good girlfriend she is' as Rachel phrased it.

* * *

><p>"Goodnight then," Rachel whispered in Quinn's ear before kissing her cheek and then taking a step backwards letting Quinn unlock her door and step over the threshold.<p>

"Come in," Quinn asked, a little shocked by her own voice being so eager.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course she is sure," another voice piped up from behind Quinn.

"Hey mum"

"Hello Miss Fabray."

Both Rachel and Quinn said at the same time.

Judy laughed.

"Do come in Rachel, even if it's only for a few minutes."

Rachel blushed before obliging, "If you insist."

"We do," Judy said looking at her daughter who just smiled back at her mother.

Quinn guided Rachel into the lounge and told her that she'd be back in a minute, she just needed a drink. Rachel smiled and took a seat.

As Quinn entered the kitchen she was greeted with her mother's Cheshire-cat-like smile.

"What?" Quinn asked a little worried by her mother's appearance.

"Quinnie she's beautiful! Not to mention polite."

Quinn smiled, "Yeah she's pretty special."

"Then hold onto her, hold onto her as if your life depends on it honey," Judy said before exiting the room.

"I will," Quinn said to no one but herself.

"You will what?" Rachel asked.

Quinn jumped ten foot in the air completely startled by the presence of Rachel now standing at the kitchen door.

"Sorry, your mum told me to come through, she's gone to bed, she told me to tell you."

"Oh okay, thanks, and it's fine."

"So you will what?" Rachel probed.

"I will hold onto you like my life depends on it," Quinn said before walking over to her girlfriend and pulling her into the most passionate and heartfelt kiss of her life.

Rachel smiled into the kiss and she felt Quinn do the same back. They stayed like that for a long while, long enough for Judy to come back downstairs and check on them, to find the pair pushed up against the wall just staring into each other's eyes.

Judy smiled and watched the pair, not because she didn't trust them, but because she couldn't be happier for her daughter finally finding love, but it was what happened next that caused Judy to shed a tear.

Quinn's eyes scanned Rachel's face before becoming lost in her chocolate orbs.

"You are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen Rach and I love you. But do you know what I love most about you?" Not leaving Rachel enough time to answer, Quinn carried on, "I love that you leave me speechless but more than that, I love that you love me for who I am, and I can't ask for anything more than that. What we have is special, so promise me one thing please?"

"Anything," Rachel replied staring back into Quinn's hazel coloured eyes.

"Love me because you just can't stop yourself from doing so, don't ever force yourself to love me. If you ever hesitate when trying to think about why you love me or what you love about me, find the honesty within yourself to tell me. I can't have a relationship without trust and honesty and I have both those things in you, so if you ever find yourself in the position I just described, of which I hope you don't," Quinn smiled, "Then do the right thing, be honest and tell me. You'll never lose me Rachel. Ever. And if anything does happen to you, or I, or to the pair of us then I'll always be with you," Quinn brought her hand and placed it over Rachel's heart, "I'll always be in here Rachel. You'll always be the first person who stole my heart. You'll always be the person who has my heart. Always."

Rachel's mind whirred and before she could stop herself she said, "I promise."

Quinn then sniffed unattractively, blinked away the tears in her eyes before lowering herself back to Rachel's lips and kissing her again.

She kissed her because she needed to.

Because she wanted to.

Because actions speak louder than words.

Judy wiped away the solitary tear on her cheek before leaving the girls alone and heading for bed.

* * *

><p><strong>Did you enjoy it? Comment and reviews would be great please? <strong>

**I recently wrote a one-shot Faberry fanfiction for Faberry week, it's called 'The Gift of Luck,' check it out and leave comments please. (:**

**Only a couple of chapters left, next chapter will probably start just before Puck's party, however I'm open for suggestions.  
><strong>


	28. An announcment

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Glee or any of the characters**

**I apologise for the lateness of this update but I've been over run by exams and illness, however I'm back!**

**I will only be doing 30 chapters to this story so as you can tell it is coming to a close, any last minute suggestions are welcomed.**

**The other reason for the lateness of this update is because I have started my new Faberry Fic called "When I Deserve You" which you can find on my page. So far it is only three chapters long so take a look!**

**Enjoy.  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 28<strong>

A week had passed since Judy had witnessed the rather endearing, in her opinion, incident in the kitchen between Rachel and her own daughter. She still hadn't mentioned it to Quinn but she felt as if she should mainly to show an interest in her daughter's life, but at the same time she didn't want to be too pushy. Using her famous subtle charm Judy brought it up at possibly the worst possible moment.

In three hours time Puck's fancy dress party would be underway. Quinn had been panicking all day and despite trying to get ready three hours early, she was still worrying about, well, everything.

"Honey can I talk to you quickly?" Judy asked casually, leaning on the doorframe of Quinn's room while the blonde was trying out a third hairstyle in the space of an hour.

"Really Mum? What right now? As in at this particular moment in time when you can see I'm struggling with possibly the biggest dilemma in the history of the Fabray's?" Quinn shot back feeling slightly guilty as she witnessed her mother's face drop at the comments in her mirror.

"Sorry," Quinn mumbled.

Ignoring her daughter's apology, Judy sat herself down on Quinn's bed just a metre away from where said girl was sitting with curling tongs in her hand.

"Last week I met Rachel."

"Ouch!" Quinn yelled having burnt herself from the jerky motion she'd made when Judy mentioned her girlfriends name. Girlfriend. How can one simple word feel so right, Quinn thought to herself.

"Carry on," Quinn prompted after pulling herself out of the world she'd just got lost somewhere in.

"After I told her to see you, I heard you talking," Judy confessed, her last words trailing off into silence.

"You ear wigged our conversation mum! That was private!"

"I know Quinnie, I know. And, well, I just wanted to say, I'm incredibly proud of you, and what you said. It was all so sincere and it was the first time I've seen you be _you_ since before your pregnancy. I wish I had had that kind of sincerity and honesty when dealing with your father, if I had maybe things would have turned out differently, better that is."

Quinn lowered the tongs and turned them off before allowing them to hang off of the wooden dresser. She picked herself up and sat next to her mum and sighed, the side of her hair that was curly fell over her face, the other half hung limply down the side of her face.

"In a way I wanted you to stand up to him, of course I did, you are my mum yet you didn't feel like it back then."

Judy made to interrupt her daughter but Quinn raised her hand and Judy quietened down allowing the blonde to finish.

"I wanted you to stand up to him back then, but now I think back, I wouldn't have wished it any different. If you'd have stood up to him, things could have turned out really messy, I'm proud that you waited it out for the right moment. Because of all that I now have the mum I always wanted and a beautiful girlfriend who _he_ would never have accepted. I'm proud of you, and I really mean it."

Judy pulled her daughter into a one armed hug and said, "Judging by the costume you picked out I think you should go for the natural look. An hour before you leave wash your hair and blow-dry it, that'll be all it takes. You'll blow them away Quinn, most of all you'll blow Rachel away."

And with that Judy pushed herself off of Quinn's bed and made for the door, but just before she left, she paused and turned back to her daughter who was already brushing the curls out of her hair leaving meek waves and said, "She's a keeper Quinnie. I hope she likes the necklace."

Quinn's gaze shot up to Judy's, "How do you…" Quinn began but stopped when she saw the open box with a passport sized photo of Rachel on underneath it.

Quinn turned to smile at her mum, but she'd already left the room.

* * *

><p>A knock on the door woke Judy from her slumber. Nearing the door she saw a red outline through the pane of the glass and instantly knew who it would be.<p>

"Hello Santana," Judy welcomed allowing the latina to step through the door and into the Fabray household.

"Hello, Miss Fabray I'm here for Quinn," Santana said in the most forced polite voice Judy was convinced she'd ever heard from the girl.

"Gathered, she's just finishing off upstairs, she won't be long. Go up if you like."

"Thank-you," Santana thanked before climbing the stairs two at a time which completely bewildered Judy.

How can anybody in a dress as tight as that still be able to climb stairs at the speed of light?

Santana walked straight into the blonde's room without knocking which was the first thing that Quinn picked up on without even turning around to know how had entered.

"Santana, there's such a thing called knocking."

"There's also a thing called being an absolute knockout," Santana said with a wry grin overtaking her face as the blonde turned to face her.

"You are a vision Q, really you are," a genuine smile overbearing the grin.

"Thank-you, not too shabby yourself," Quinn laughed back.

"Hey, I will be the hottest girl at the damn party tonight!"

"In your opinion," Quinn replied.

"Well you never know short stack may actually turn up as a hobbit, or maybe even a smurf," Santana laughed to herself.

"Hey, I heard that!" Quinn shouted before launching a book at the brunette.

"You're either a hopeless romantic, love nerds or are and Rachel are both going to top yourselves due to undying love," Santana joked as she caught the book and read the title _Romeo and Juliet_ out loud.

Quinn's cheeks roared a deep crimson, thankfully Santana didn't notice though.

Twenty minutes later Quinn was finally ready and had a slight feeling of déjà vu as she descended the stairs in a similar manor as to which she had when attending the prom with Finn.

"Honey, you are stunning," Judy beamed wiping a stray tear from her eye.

"You don't think I'm over dressed?" Quinn asked anxiously.

"Of course not Quinn," her mother said convincingly, whilst the latina just snorted.

Both Fabray's turned to glare at her making the latina blush and then break the silence she'd ultimately caused, "Come on Quinn, to the ball you must go."

Judy laughed, "I don't think Puck's party is going to be remotely like a ball, be safe though girls!"

Quinn and Santana had already left the house but turned to laugh at the older blondes comment.

"See you later," Quinn yelled hurriedly before being pushed into the brunette's car.

The journey to Pucks was about as predictable as possible. Santana took digs at her outfit, her dating Rachel and just at Quinn in general, but of course Quinn didn't give in without a fight.

"Do you reckon she did blue body paint?"

"What?" Quinn asked with a perplexed look, luckily Santana couldn't turn around to see it though due to keeping her eyes on the road, which Quinn was rather glad about as she felt stupid for not getting Santana's dig at Rachel straight away.

"Well smurfs are blue right? Or have I been watching the Rachel show all along?"

"You really need to stop that, or I'll tell B that you were being mean again and we all know what that means," Quinn laughed.

Santana's face instantly fell and muttered something under her breath.

"Sorry what was that?" Quinn asked cupping her hand around her ear leaning closer to the latina.

"Nothing," Santana grumbled.

"I guess I'll just have to tell her then, looks like no sweet lady kisses for you for quite a long time, especially seeing you've taken every opportunity to take a dig at my _girlfriend_."

"Okay, I'm sorry, I'm sorry but if you call her girlfriend one more time I may have to pull over and vomit," Santana shot back.

Quinn smiled triumphantly whilst Santana mumbled what sounded like Spanish swearing for the rest of the short lived journey.

* * *

><p>On arrival the girls stayed seated in the latina's car for a few moments, as if bracing themselves for the night ahead.<p>

Quinn made to get out but Santana called her back.

"Look, I know I'm a bitch, everything I said back at the costume store and at Puck's previous party and well, everything in between, I truly am sorry for and…"

But Quinn cut across a little impatiently, "I know you are, you don't need to tell me again."

"No please, I need to say this."

Quinn rolled her eyes but knew that Santana would have listened if it was her, so decided to wait it out, knowing that in all honesty she owed this girl everything that she had.

"Okay, I'm listening," Quinn replied softly taking the brunettes hand, a simple sign that she understood how hard it was for the latina to open up.

"I lash out because I'm scared, because I'm angry and I know that it's usually you on the receiving end and I'm sorry. I'm sorry that it's you who has had to put up with this kind of treatment from me for the majority of our lives, but I take it out on you because I know you'll always forgive me, and vice versa. I know that doesn't make what I do right, but since being with Brittany, she's made me understand that these are the best times of our lives and we don't have much time together, you and I or the Glee Club as a whole and that's actually a sad thought. Brittany explained to me that in a few weeks from now we could potentially be going to opposite ends of the country and may not see each other for a few months at a time, maybe years and I don't want to spend that time apologising for everything I've done in the past and wasting the time I could have had having a laugh with my best and closest friend."

Quinn didn't speak and just looked at her best friend in pure admiration. Her mouth opened and closed a few times but no words could express how proud she was of the latina, how much that the latina had grown, how much that Brittany had helped the latina see sense.

"I love you like a sister Quinn and I'd be devastated if anything happened to you. I know I can't take back anything that I've done to you in the past and I know you can't do the same, but from now on I promise to try much harder to be a better person, to be the better person in any situation. But more than anything I promise to always love you and be there for you when you need me."

"Thank-you," Quinn managed to utter out in barely a whisper.

"I'm not saying this will happen, but _if_ it does, I want you to know I'm there okay? The love you have for Rachel lights up the room and lifts the atmosphere when you're around. I know nobody knows about you guys yet but whatever happens, between you and Rachel I mean, for better or for worse, I'm here. If you need a break, if you want to talk, if you have money troubles, if you break up and the list goes on. Whatever it is I'll be here, but most of all I _will_ be there when you pick out that engagement ring."

Quinn's mouth dropped.

"Yes Juno, I think you'll make it," Santana smiled, a few tears threatening to fall.

Quinn pulled the latina to her and held her in the tightest embrace and whispered in her ear, "The same back to you. You're a beautiful human being, and I'm glad that Brittany helped you find her."

As Quinn pulled away she planted a kiss on the brunette's forehead lingering for a minute before speaking again.

"Let's get this party started?"

"Hell yeah!"

"No truth or dare," Quinn deadpanned as she linked arms with the latina and entered the mohawked boys home.

"But."

"No."

"How about…"

"No, spin the bottle is out too."

"Just once?"

"Maybe."

"I'm holding you to that Fabray," Santana laughed as she entered the kitchen to grab her first drink of the evening.

* * *

><p>Ten minutes into the party and Quinn had already been offered the largest variety of drinks she'd ever been presented with. She'd said no to all offers, of course, there were a few things that she needed to say to a specific someone, sober.<p>

Quinn moved her way around the gyrating bodies in Puck's lounge searching for the short brunette but there was absolutely no sign of her. Rachel is never late, Quinn thought to herself. She quickly shrugged it off as she saw the mohawked boy making his way up the stairs deciding to follow him and ask about the diva's absence.

Puck entered his room and made to close the door behind him but was stopped by a rather defiant hand.

"Oh hey Q, sorry didn't see you, come in," the boy beckoned then closing the door behind her.

Puck turned to look at the blonde who had carefully perched herself at the end of his bed and his jaw hit the floor.

"What?" Quinn asked nonchalantly.

"You look beautiful Quinn," Puck mouthed as his face softened up allowing him to lift his jaw from the floor.

"Thank-you," Quinn blushed, "Not too bad yourself," she motioned at his outfit, "Do I dare ask?"

"Babe, I'm Robin? You know, Batman and Robin?"

Quinn looked blank, "Yes I know who they are but is there a specific significance I'm supposed to remember?" She asked acting completely oblivious but quickly turning her head away trying to suppress her growing grin.

Puck's face fell, "Nothing, it's nothing. So how did you decide on that dress? It's stunning and if I'm honest, the character totally suits you. Oddly enough powder blue always dig bring out your eyes despite them being a burnt hazel colour," he hurried, trying to change the conversation.

Quinn smiled, "Who knew you paid that much attention."

"Hey!" Puck joked.

"Can I tell you a story?"

"I guess, aren't you looking for Rachel?"

"She's not here yet," Quinn said waving her hand as if batting the comment out of the air.

"If you're sure, then I'm all ears," Puck grinned.

Quinn cleared her throat and rested her head on Puck's shoulder which prompted him to wrap his arm around the blonde's shoulders.

"Once upon a time there was a boy and a girl. They had only known each other for three years, and through those three years they had good times and bad times, highs and lows but they went through them together and became better people because of it. After three years had passed the pair found themselves rolling around in a field talking about their future, the boy helped the girl decide what she wanted to do with the rest of her life and vice versa. They called each other Batman and Robin and little did they know that those names would stick for life."

Puck smiled and whispered, "You remembered."

"No one forgets a moment between two friends that ultimately yet unconsciously shapes their lives," Quinn whispered back.

"So what happens to the people in the story?" Puck asked, a little apprehensive of the answer.

"The boy and girl take their separate paths in life, they grow apart, but when they reach their dream, they'll think back to what and who got them there and that's when they'll realise that going their separate ways was the best thing that they ever did. Only once they reach their dream will they be able to meet again."

A tear rolled down Puck's cheek. He didn't realise that ultimately this party would be a goodbye for a lot of the glee members. However, he did realise how hard it would be long before he had to say goodbye to Quinn.

"Why do they have to go separately?" Puck asked quietly.

"Because together they will destroy each other, they'll always be in the others way, they'll always be reminding the other of their past mistakes. They need to be alone, they need to clear their heads and focus on their dream and then they'll go out and get it."

"How do you know that they'll get it? What if they don't reach their dream?"

"Oh they will reach their dream, you see the girl was head of the cheerleading squad and was determined in everything she did, and still does. The boy? Well the boy had the most bad ass Mohawk in town and no one dared mess with him, I'm sure that courage and bravery will rub off on him somehow."

Puck smiled sadly.

"What if the boy loses his way?"

"Then the girl will only ever be a phone call away," Quinn finished as she lifted her head off of the boys shoulder and turned to face him.

"Saying goodbye was always going to be hard Puck, but the memories we have will last a lifetime. The world is your oyster, so go out and get what you want, earn it, reach it and deserve it. I'll always be here for you and you know that, but if I was there by your side every step of the way, you'd hold back and you wouldn't make the mistakes that you need to. We made a mistake by having unprotected sex but we gained a beautiful daughter, I'm scared that if I'm around you all the time you won't make mistakes anymore and everybody needs mistakes to improve, even you Puck."

"And when did you become so wise?" Puck laughed through an array of tears.

Quinn's heart broke at the sight before her, she didn't want to hurt or say goodbye to Puck but deep down they both knew that it was the only way forward.

Puck noticed the upset behind Quinn's hazel orbs and said, "You can't tell anyone that Puck-a-saurus has feelings okay."

"My secret," Quinn smiled before leaning forward and embracing Puck for potentially the last meaningful time when they were both sober and both could remember the conversation.

A couple of minutes passed in a comfortable silence before a voice that sounded a little bit like Kurt's shouted, "Rachel's here!"

Puck pulled out of the embrace and stood up offering his hand out for Quinn, "You shall not attend the ball alone," he grinned.

"Why do you remind me of Santana right now?" Quinn laughed.

Quinn took Puck's hand and allowed herself to be pulled up from the edge of the bed.

"And when did you become so beautiful?" Puck said in awe.

"When I found someone as beautiful as Rachel," Quinn blushed.

"I'll miss you," he paused, "and Rachel of course," he continued, "Take care of her okay, and let her take care of you, there's no harm in admitting defeat every now and then."

"What makes everyone think that me and Rachel are going to last?" Quinn asked confused.

"You told me a story not long ago about a girl and a boy, the girl seemed pretty determined to me," Puck chuckled.

Quinn smiled back at the mohawked boy, "I hope we last too. I'll miss you too. I know this all seems so final and we still have a week or so before people part, but in a few hours we'll all probably be half cut and I just wanted to say it now, to make sure you remember it, okay."

"I will if you do," Puck said before he leaned into Quinn and gently grazed her lips with his own.

The kiss wasn't full of lust. It wasn't looking for a quick fumble in the dark away from the heart of party. It was a goodbye. A final goodbye. A final goodbye in which they could look back on in the years to come.

Puck blushed, feeling stupid and not knowing if Quinn understood what he had tried to convey but a simple nod and a smile from the blonde, signalled that she did.

"I'll never forget you," Puck smiled before holding his arm out for the blonde to take.

"RACHEL IS HERE QUINN! WHERE ARE YOU!"

"Someone's had a bit too much to drink already," Quinn laughed.

"Blaine is relatively sober this time, surprising actually," Puck replied.

The pair laughed as they made their way to the top of the stairs but as they reached the top Puck whispered an idea into Quinn's ear and quickly descended the stairs without her.

"Hello Noah, you haven't seen Quinn have you. Kurt claims she's here, but the more he says it, the less I seem to believe him in his current state of well, drunkenness."

Puck looked Rachel up and down and smiled. Typical Rachel Berry, he thought to himself. She was wearing a light blue and white chequered dress with a pristine white apron. Knee high white socks with a blue bow on them covered Rachel's legs but due to the shortness of the dress, plenty of Rachel's thighs were still visible, not leaving much to the imagination, Puck thought to himself, not daring to voice the thought out loud. A blue bow occupied Rachel's straight hair that for the time being had been pushed back behind her ears, but her fringe still hung over her face.

"Noah?" Rachel prompted.

"Close your mouth, you're dribbling Puck," Sam shouted as he walked past the diva and the mohawked by hand in hand with Mercedes.

Puck snapped to his senses and hurried an apology.

"Is Quinn here or not, I'm getting very impatient Puckerman."

"Ah, scary Rachel, yes she's, just wait here, okay?" Puck said a smile creeping across his face.

"If this is some kind of practical joke…."

"It's not I promise."

But Rachel wasn't paying attention as he eye line was distracted by the image of her girlfriend descending Puck's stairs in the most stunning outfit, if you could even call it that. The dress was a powder blue and fitted Quinn perfectly and only flowed outwards from the knee's to her ankles. A pair of two inch high, gladiator style silver heels occupied Quinn's feet which displayed her perfectly light blue painted toe nails. Her hair hung loosely in front of her shoulders in its natural wavy state, the only part of her hair that had been tampered with was Quinn's fringe being pinned to the side of her head by a blue bowed hair grip. Subtle blue glittery eye shadow engulfed Quinn's eyes and made them sparkle a little more than usual and her lips weren't coloured, just coated in a shiny lip gloss.

Puck smiled triumphantly before leaving the girls to it as Quinn stepped off of the last stair.

"You are, well, just wow," Rachel forced out.

Quinn's cheeks turned a slight magenta colour; luckily Rachel wasn't paying much attention so her cheeks managed to turn back to a normal shade before Rachel noticed.

Rachel immersed herself in her girlfriend's appearance and then she finally put everything together.

The descent from the stairs. The dress. The hair. The perfect picturesque moment of Cinderella.

"Cinderella," Rachel said in barely a whisper.

"A gold star for you," Quinn joked.

Rachel frowned but she couldn't muster up the energy to keep it for long. She pulled Quinn in for a brief kiss before taking her hand and dragging her to the kitchen. Sam and Mercedes currently stood in front of the drinks table and Quinn wanted to out themselves all together, not just to individual people so she kissed Rachel's cheek and parted their hands.

"Kurt found you then," Mercedes laughed.

"Something like that," Quinn smiled back.

Sam and Mercedes picked their drinks up from the table and made to leave the room but just before they reached the door, the pair turned around and spoke.

"You look stunning Quinn," Mercedes beamed.

"Likewise," Quinn replied.

"Beautiful," Sam smiled to the girl, "Don't lose your glass slipper though, plenty of people will look for it tonight," he winked before leaving the room.

"Well if you do, I hope I'm the only person who finds that glass slipper," Rachel smiled before reaching for a glass and filling it up with Puck's infamous punch.

"Rachel?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you sure you want to drink that?"

"One won't kill me, and if I go off the rails you have full permission to never allow me to drink again."

"Point taken," Quinn laughed before grabbing a cup and saying, "Fill me one too then."

A few minutes passed of general conversation between the girls before Quinn changed the topic to something a little more serious.

"I have an odd feeling of déjà vu."

"In what way?" Rachel asked a little perplexed.

"Well this is where it all started. Where we started. You went to kiss me, and you hit my cheek. I call that bad aim."

"Hey, I meant to hit your cheek!" Rachel protested.

"Yeah, of course, anything to make you feel better," Quinn laughed playfully punching Rachel in the arm before taking another sip of her drink and wincing.

"What the hell is in this?"

"Don't change the topic, but everything by the taste of it," Rachel replied smiling.

"I wasn't."

"Good, because I regret kissing you."

Quinn's heart dropped but before she knew what was happening she felt a pair of familiar lips engulf her own. Quinn could feel the heat radiating from not only Rachel's lips but from her body as well. She made to deepen the kiss but before she could, Rachel pulled away smiling.

"I regret kissing your cheek, what I should have done was that."

Quinn blushed through a smile.

"I'm sorry for how I treated you and everything I put you through Quinn, it wasn't fair, I know that now, I just wish I'd have known that back then and maybe I wouldn't have hurt you."

The blonde pulled the diva into a tight embrace nearly sloshing their drinks over each other. Both girls giggled.

"It's fine, we have each other now, and that's all that matters."

Quinn kissed Rachel's cheek once more, held out her hand and said, "I think we have an announcement to make."

"Really? Are you sure? I don't want to pressure you into anything you don't want to do."

"Too much talking not enough announcing," Quinn grinned pulling at Rachel's hand.

Rachel complied and walked hand in hand through the house and to the lounge in which the heart of the party seemed to be.

Nobody seemed phased by the fact that the two girls were hand in hand with one another.

"You aren't planning to shout it at them are you?" Quinn yelled into Rachel's ear due to the volume of the music.

"What?" Rachel yelled back, "I can't hear you."

"You aren't planning to shout it at them are you?" Quinn yelled once more but at that precise moment Puck had noticed the two girls standing hand in hand and assumed it was a signal to turn down the music.

"What?" Tina asked, "All I got from that was '_shout it at them are you_.'"

Rachel laughed and Quinn turned pink for the umpteenth time that night.

"We have an announcement if that's okay with everybody," Rachel said clearly.

"Actually it's not," Artie joked.

Everybody laughed and a couple of people patted the boy in the superman outfit on the back.

"No it's cool, continue," he finished off smiling as he noticed their entwined hands.

"Well first of all I'd like to say that you all look spectacular…"

But Rachel was cut off by Santana, "Yeah yeah, we all look fabulous, tell us something we don't know," the latina laughed but there was no malice in her voice.

Quinn turned to smile at her, and the smile was quickly returned before Brittany pulled her girlfriend in for a kiss.

Here goes, Quinn thought to herself as Rachel cleared her throat, but before she spoke she noticed something. As her gaze fell upon the fellow glee clubbers she noticed that they were all smiling at her. At the pair of them. Nobody was hurrying them. Nobody was rolling their eyes with boredom, not even Santana. They were willing to listen. They were happy to wait until they were ready to reveal what they wanted to say.

Three years ago this wouldn't have happened. Three years ago Rachel would have been laughed off of the floor in the auditorium whilst she tried to make an announcement, but now, it was different. Everybody had grown and matured, and Rachel was sure that everybody cared now, they cared more than before and if they hadn't cared at all, they were learning to, they were starting to care.

These thoughts filled Rachel with pride and the beaming smiles on the dressed up glee members urged her to make her announcement but then she felt the hand attached to her own. She remembered that this wasn't a Rachel Berry announcement; it was a _Faberry _announcement as they would be probably known as later on.

Rachel gripped Quinn's hand tighter and felt the grip reciprocated, she knew what she needed to do, for once Rachel Berry needed to step down and let somebody else take the lime light. She turned to Quinn and whispered, "You tell them."

As soon as the words left her mouth she felt Quinn's grasp slacken and that only prompted Rachel to hold on tighter.

"I can't."

"You need to stand on your own two feet at some point, this is your chance, if you don't take it now, it may not come along again."

Quinn smiled.

Rachel believed in her. She wasn't a failure. She wasn't about to lose everybody in Glee Club. She wasn't about to watch her girlfriend be laughed off the floor. She was about to be embraced for her honesty: their honesty. She was once again going to be embraced for being different. They were going to be celebrated for their new found love in one another and Quinn knew that if anybody had something hurtful to say, more importantly, anything hurtful to say to Rachel, she would hold her girlfriends hand all the way and fight them away: together.

She took one last look into the smiling deep chocolate orbs and that's all she needed.

Quinn turned to the Glee members before them and cleared her throat.

"Some of you may already know that subtly isn't Rachel's forte," Quinn started.

Many of the glee clubbers chuckled and Quinn received a loving punch from Rachel who was still beaming.

Quinn continued, "Meaning that some of you may have already guessed that," she paused, she couldn't do this, she couldn't and then for the umpteenth time in the last ten minutes she felt a tightening grip around her hand and she knew she wasn't alone, "that Rachel and I are together."

A cheer erupted from the small crowd before the pair and a couple of "At lasts," and "Thank Gods," were heard amongst a few people.

"It wasn't that hard was it?" Rachel asked pulling her girlfriend into a hug, "I'm proud of you."

But Quinn wasn't finished; she'd had the guts to tell everybody that, so she sure as hell had the guts to be the better person in an awkward situation with Finn.

Quinn nodded to Puck who shouted, "Hey guys, Q isn't finished!"

The kafuffle soon died down and everybody was paying attention once more.

"Thank-you all for taking it so well because I know for a certain person here, it isn't that easy," Quinn calmly said now looking Finn directly in the eyes.

"I know it hasn't been easy for you Finn, and I respect that. I didn't at first and I regret making that mistake because you are a fantastic guy and I know that the perfect woman is out there for you, but unfortunately it isn't Rachel. I understand that it'll be hard for you seeing us together until you get your thoughts straight, so we aren't going to flaunt it in front of you, but we aren't ashamed, so we aren't going to hide it either. I'd just like everybody here to know that I am sorry for how I treated you Finn, truly I am, so if you can find it somewhere in you to forgive me, I'd really appreciate that."

Finn swallowed and looked up at the blonde with a blank expression. It was hard, but whether it was now or in two weeks time he'd still have to do the same thing and accept her apology, so he might as well get it over and done with. He stood up and walked over to the blonde and hugged her.

After pulling away from the blonde he turned to Rachel, kissed her cheek and then turned before the Glee Club.

"I accept Quinn's apology and I'd like to make a toast to the happy couple. To Rachel and Quinn everybody. Welcome Faberry!"

As Finn finished his sentence everybody raised their cup, glass or bottle and shouted, "To Faberry!"

* * *

><p><strong>So what did you think of Quinn's costume idea? The rest of the glee clubbers outfits will be revealed next chapter!<br>**

**The more reviews I get the quicker I'll update the next few chapters. **

**Please take a look at "When I Deserve You" and once again I'm sorry for the updating delay!**


	29. A story to tell

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or Glee.**

**Sorry for such a late update but here is the penultimate chapter****!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Quinn mingled with everybody at the party laughing and joking about anything and everything. She was so intrigued by people's costume idea's that she felt a little bit too dressed up in her Cinderella outfit but was quickly reassured by both Puck and Rachel that she looked a vision and should just shut up complaining and enjoy herself.<p>

_I'm Sexy And I know It_ began to play on Puck's ipod and everybody cheered. Quinn, not wanting to have her nose broken or dress ruined sat down on one of the couches and just watched everybody else dance and prance around.

"I don't think it's legal for Willy Wonka to dance like that in front of children," Santana laughed as she threw herself down next to Quinn taking large gulps from a bottle of beer.

"You're probably right," Quinn half shouted back as she watched Kurt thrust his hips backwards and forwards, Blaine mimicking his movements next to him his cape billowing behind him as his Zorro mask slipped further and further down his face.

The music, if possibly seemed to get steadily louder and Quinn began to wince as a pounding started in her head. It couldn't be from the alcohol, she hadn't had any. She cast her gaze over the room once more noticing that Mercedes, who was dressed up at Princess Leia, was having a light sabre fight with Sam who was conveniently dressed up as Luke Skywalker.

Santana watched Quinn's eye line and almost snorted at the light sabre fight.

"He's been doing impressions of Luke since he got here," Santana chortled, "but the drunker he's getting the less his impression seems believable."

Quinn turned to the latina and raised her eyebrow, "really?" she asked already knowing the answer.

Santana grinned and nodded but her smile quickly faltered. Quinn nudged the latina but got no response.

"Are you okay?" Quinn asked a little concerned at her friend's sudden change of mood.

Santana hummed, her brow still knitted tightly together still staring scornfully a something over Quinn's shoulder

"What are you looking at?" Quinn tried to ask but before she knew it the latina had jumped from the couch and was tearing her way across the room.

* * *

><p>"Ow you're freaking hurting me," Finn yelled with his arms pinned to the floor behind his head, the latina straddling his hips.<p>

"Do I look like I care?" Santana spat back still wrestling to keep Finn's arms behind his head.

Quinn was still completely oblivious to the situation. All she'd seen was Santana fly across the room and rugby tackled Finn. Anger coursed through her veins when she realised that Santana nearly pushed Finn right on top of Rachel, but luckily, for Santana's sake, she missed.

"Stop the violence," Brittany hiccupped.

"Yeah, what's going on?" Tina asked.

When Santana had gone flying across the room she had completely forgotten that Puck's party was still in full swing and her mind rushed as she tried to make a coherent response.

"Bat-twat here was trying it on with Rachel," Santana seethed.

"I thought it was Batman?" Brittany asked dreamily.

Quinn's heart pounded against her chest and began wondering to herself why she hadn't noticed and why it wasn't herself that was pinning Finn to the floor instead of Santana.

"Not cool bro," Artie piped up from his wheelchair.

The entirety of the party had gathered around Santana and Finn, many with confused expressions on their faces. All except Rachel that is, who stood shifting a good metre's distance apart from everyone else looking guiltily at the floor.

Quinn's eyes darted from Finn to Rachel. She was pissed. Beyond pissed, but for some reason Rachel's presence, instead of calming her, made her blood pound harder. Why wasn't she shouting to defend herself? Why wasn't she blaming Finn? Why was she shifting her weight from ball to heel of her feet refusing to meet anyone's gaze?

"Wait," Quinn said eyes still not leaving Rachel.

Everybody turned looking, if possible, even more confused than before.

"At last," Finn shouted, annoyance laced his voice.

"Wait! What!" Santana practically growled at Quinn.

"Just let him up Santana it's supposed to be a party."

Her words were greeted by Puck saying, "Here here."

Santana reluctantly clambered off of Finn whilst continuing to give him the death glare.

"I'm not done with you," Santana shot at Finn whilst Puck tried to pull her away.

"Yes you are," Quinn deadpanned.

"What is this Quinn? He was all over your woman and…"

Finn interrupted, "She's pissed. She nearly fell over so I grabbed her by the waist if that is me being all over your woman, then fine I'm out of here."

He got up off of the floor grabbed a beer from the table and made his way to the door.

"Dude wait," Puck shouted letting go of the latina and hurrying after him.

A few minutes of awkward silence passed.

"I don't get it," Santana said bluntly, "He can't have just helped her up, Berry's hands were around his neck and he was whispering in her ear."

Quinn's blood hit boiling point because she knew the truth. She knew what Rachel was like when she was drunk. She just didn't believe that Rachel would do that to her. Before she could say anything however, Puck entered the room again with Finn in tow.

"He said he didn't do anything and I believe him," Puck stated.

"Oh my God, I get it. It's Batman and Robin," Brittany said pointing her finger at Puck and Finn who were standing next to one another.

The Glee Club just rolled their eyes.

Something clicked in the back of Santana's head.

"Why hasn't Berry spoke?" Santana asked.

"Exactly," Finn said, "I didn't do anything. Tell them Rachel," he pleaded.

"Spit it out Berry, I don't want to see him beg."

Santana was suddenly very aware of the fact that Quinn hadn't corrected her when she'd called Rachel "_Berry"_ instead of using her actual name. Rachel must have been aware of this fact too because her eyes began to sting.

Finn turned to Quinn and took a step towards her, "I meant everything I said before okay, I'm happy for both of you. Honest."

Quinn just nodded pulled Santana closer and whispered in her ear before leaving the room. Rachel's face looked panic stricken and she tried to follow but Santana stopped her.

"Not so fast Tweedle Dum," Santana started pointing her finger at Rachel, "Party's not over yet guys, get drinking!" Santana finished, smiling a little more convincingly than before.

Everybody dispersed from the circle that had previously formed around Santana and Finn and began to dance and drink again. Artie, dressed as Superman, began claiming that if he really was Superman he'd make himself walk again before attempting to get out of his wheelchair and fly. Luckily Mike caught him, sat him back down and asked Tina to get him a glass of water as he had clearly had far too much to drink.

"You and you, kitchen now," Santana frowned glancing between both Rachel and Finn. They bowed their heads and both left the room, the latina just a few steps behind them.

* * *

><p>"Spill," Santana demanded.<p>

Quinn stood staring out of Puck's kitchen window. She wondered how many times she'd looked out of this window. She definitely wouldn't be able to count it on just two hands. There was just something about it although she could never think what. It just looked out onto the street right? Or was it what Quinn could see through the window? Maybe it was more than that. Maybe it was just coincidental that every time something went wrong in her life she just happened to be standing in the same spot, staring into the same space.

It felt familiar, but not the good kind.

Finn continued to look blank although he held that latina's gaze. He wasn't sure if she was talking to him or Rachel, so to be safe he simply stayed quiet.

"Answer her Rachel," Quinn said scaring the other three occupants in the room.

None of them had expected her to speak, least of all Rachel.

"I – I'm just drunk, I fell, Finn caught me," Rachel said not taking her eyes off of the back of the blonde.

She half hoped she'd turned round but when a minute of silence passed after Rachel talking, she knew it wasn't going to happen.

Quinn thought about the necklace buried deep within her jacket pocket as not to lose it. As she thought more and more about the necklace she thought about how much smaller the chance was getting that she'd actually need it. Or maybe she simply didn't want to give it to a certain someone anymore.

"That's crap, it was more than just being drunk," Santana chided.

Finn continued to stay silent.

"It's okay Santana," Quinn said as she finally turned around to face her three fellow glee clubbers who were sat at Puck's table.

Santana rolled her eyes but realised Quinn was right, this was her battle, so she stayed quiet.

"You can go Finn," Quinn half heartedly smiled at him.

He stood up, not questioning the blonde, "Thanks," he mumbled.

Finn got as far as the door before being called back, "And Finn," Quinn called holding out her hand, "Takes Mike's glove back will you, I'm not sure why I have it. I think I found it on the couch."

The boy stepped forward and took the white glove from Quinn's hand and smiled.

Santana laughed.

Everyone in the kitchen turned to her.

"What?" she shrugged, "its funny listening to him almost crying over the fact he can't be Michael Jackson if he is missing a glove."

This time it was Finn's turn to laugh, "We all saw you take it."

Santana looked taken a back, "Can't prove it," she said as she stood up making herself look taller.

"Okay, Finn leave," Quinn said, "Before she takes your legs off," she finished smiling at the pale colour Finn's face had turned.

* * *

><p>Silence had engulfed the kitchen. Rachel had tried to meet Quinn's gaze. She had tried to talk, but the words had got caught in her throat. She hadn't meant it, she literally was just drunk, but then again, it was no excuse.<p>

Santana coughed startling Rachel from her staring.

"You've got drool Berry," Santana deadpanned.

Rachel just glared back at the latina, she knew she was just trying to cause trouble and wind her up, but she wasn't going to rise to it.

"I've got it from here," Quinn said smiling at the latina as if she had a sudden epiphany telling her what to say to Rachel but mainly, how not to feel so broken when she finally explains herself.

Santana barely nodded but got up and left the room. She was no longer in sight and Quinn and Rachel were both sure that the latina was still walking but she shouted, "If you need anything just shout Q!"

Quinn smiled. She cared really. Of course she did.

"Tina suits catwoman," Quinn said completely out of the blue before sitting on the chair that Santana had just left from.

Rachel didn't know how to respond. She'd expected to be shouted at, yelled at about how Quinn obviously meant nothing to her, but when it didn't come, Rachel was more than surprised; but a little voice in the back of her head said, _she's just softening you up._ She gulped.

Rachel stumbled over her words, "Yeah, leather is um, complimenting to her figure."

She mentally slapped herself at her own words. After being caught fooling around with the guy she just left to be with someone else she is talking about how leather, of all materials, looks good on somebody other than her girlfriend.

Quinn hadn't noticed, or if she had, wasn't fazed by it. She continued to look Rachel in the eyes, searching them. Not specifically for answers, but for a simple explanation as to why Rachel just did what she did, without having to hear Rachel tell her and spell it out.

"I can explain," Rachel pleaded the suspense and silence killing her.

"I don't know if I want you to explain," Quinn replied honestly.

A tear slid down Rachel's cheek. None of this was supposed to happen. None of it.

Quinn spoke again but startled herself when she did. She hadn't expected it, hell, she hadn't even realised that she was thinking about it. But before she could hold it back it was already lingering in the air like a bad odour.

"Are you still going to New York?"

Rachel was shocked to hear her ask the question. If Quinn didn't want the answer about her accidently latching herself to Finn again then surely she didn't want the honest answer to this. Not here. Not right now.

Quinn could tell Rachel was stalling. She could tell by the way Rachel's eyes darted to every object in the room minus Quinn's face that she had already made up her mind. The blonde gripped the table leg with her right hand and braced herself for the answer.

She closed her eyes and inhaled slowly. It was going to happen at some point, if not now then further down the line, but by then maybe it would be too late for Quinn to say goodbye properly.

Quinn swallowed.

"Are you still going to New York?"

Rachel beamed at herself, internally of course, because it would have been awkward on Quinn's behalf to suddenly see her girlfriend smile when she's supposed to be in the dog house.

"If you'll let me I have a story to tell you," Rachel stated.

Quinn rolled her eyes, "I'm not interested Rachel. I saw you and Finn. I watched you let Santana nearly maul him to pieces just so I wouldn't find out that you tried to kiss him."

Rachel's heart sunk. It was true. She had tried to kiss Finn, but not for the reason Quinn was obviously thinking of.

"I fell over, he nearly caught me, I tried to kiss him, he pushed me away but I slipped again. He grabbed my waist and I took the opportunity to put my hands around his neck," Rachel stated ashamed of herself.

Quinn winced at Rachel's words but didn't stop her when she carried on.

"I know it doesn't look good."

Quinn snorted.

Rachel frowned but continued, "But it's not what you think."

Quinn zoned out, not really listening to the brunette. She couldn't take any more excuses or lies but then something Rachel said gripped her to the story and suddenly Quinn was engrossed in yet another secret about Rachel Berry.

"I'm going to New York but I'm not going alone."

Quinn's heart thumped.

"Someone taught me that I had to let go of everything to move on. At first I didn't understand what I was being told, but then it made sense. I had to let go of everything that had held me back but I had to hold on tight to what I wanted to taker to my future."

Quinn's eyes stung with unshed tears her hands gripped one another in a vice like grip to stop herself from lunging over the table and pulling Rachel into a hug. She owed the brunette this much, even if she didn't like what she was going to hear.

"So listen to my story, please Quinn, it's the only way for you to understand everything. It all started when I was only six and I had my first trip to the aquarium."

Rachel watched Quinn's face contort into exasperation but she was intent on finishing the story

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><p><strong>Reviews? Next part will be updated sooner rather than later!<strong>

**You know everyone's costumes now apart from Brittany's, any guesses?**


	30. Take a chance

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any of the characters.  
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**So here it is, the final part, I really hope you have enjoyed reading this fic and thank-you for all of those who have embarked ont his journey with me. A MASSIVE thank-you to people who have left me messages or reviews regarding the story because they really do mean a lot to me.  
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**Enjoy!**

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><p><span>Chapter 30<span>

"My dad's took me to the aquarium when I was six, it was a birthday present and they thought the novelty of seeing sea creatures would wear off within twenty minutes, however it still hasn't worn off twelve years on," Rachel smiled, "I spoke to the woman at the front desk every year, and after a few years passed I began to believe that she knew when my birthday was because she'd be the only employee on reception. When I finally plucked up the courage, which for me being the star of the show and centre of attention you'd think shyness didn't even exist in my DNA, but apparently it does, so when I finally plucked up the courage to talk to the woman I found out her name. I only became to like her so much because of her bracelet; it was silver with three sea creatures on it. I asked where she got it from and I begged my dad's to get me one too and they finally gave in."

Rachel briefly paused to take in Quinn's expression. It was still relatively blank although Quinn did look like she was listening intently, but Rachel couldn't tell if that was due to her talking to fast or if the story involved too much detail to cope with all in one go.

"Anyway, one year I visited the aquarium and the woman told me that she'd lost the bracelet so I went and brought her another one. She was delighted but then," Rachel swallowed as if bracing herself for something she wasn't expecting, "I went to visit her again but a different employee was there, a young man this time, he told me the woman had died, her name was Mable. An envelope had been left for me and inside it was a letter and the bracelet I had brought her." Rachel held up her wrist, she had replaced her own bracelet with the one that Mable had left her.

Quinn continued to look blank, she had absolutely no idea what this had to do with her and she was getting more and more impatient that Rachel was prolonging her explanation as to why she wasn't going to New York alone. Who was she going with?

The blonde had listened intently for the last forty five minutes although she was almost certain that everything Rachel had said could have been explained in about ten seconds flat. She still wasn't entirely sure what Rachel had been going on about but fortunately enough for Quinn, Rachel cottoned on by noticing Quinn's confused expression.

"Look," Rachel started her features softening a considerable amount, she looked open – vulnerable, and Quinn could notice by the dull glint in her eyes that Rachel was scared. "Whether you understood everything I just said or not, it doesn't matter because life is too short to be dwelling on the past and not looking forward to our future. In Mable's letter she explained that there were things she'd wished she had done but never had the chance to," she paused to try and grasp Quinn's expression which had gone from blank to slightly interested, "what I guess I'm trying to say is that I don't want to waste anymore time not doing what I've always dreamed of, I'm going to Broadway Quinn but…" Rachel was interrupted by the blonde who was nodding slowly.

"I still don't understand how any of that story had anything to do with me," she barely mumbled before quickly adding, "without meaning to sound horrible."

Rachel rolled her eyes exasperated; did this girl really just not listen?

"I _love_ you Quinn and when we had kind-of-date-thing in breadsticks I'd never felt happier and I'd never felt closer to you in all the years that we've known each other. The night that I forced you to leave without giving you or even offering something that resembled a possible explanation I wanted to kick myself for how I must have made you feel, how broken I must have left you and…"

Quinn quickly interrupted though by saying, "you didn't even bother to check to see if I was okay. It was late in the evening Rachel and you left me broken and alone and in the dark."

Rachel sighed, Santana clearly hadn't told her. "Santana didn't tell you then."

Quinn shook her head.

"I did try to get in contact with you, I wanted to go with them all when they went to look for you but Santana basically told me to stay away and that I'd done enough damage already."

The blonde opened and closed her mouth. She half agreed with Santana, the brunette had done enough damage but a little part of her wanted Rachel to have been there, wanted Rachel to show how much she cared and how much she hadn't meant what she said.

"The point of all of this is that I love _you_ Quinn, deep down I think I always have and I think I always will. And, what I'm trying to ask is will you…" this time the brunette wasn't interrupted by the blonde in front of her but by another blonde dressed up as Alice in Wonderland.

"Santana told me to check if you were finished and if you were to come join the others," Brittany beamed not realising that she'd interrupted anything.

"Two minutes Britt's," Quinn replied sweetly and just as she'd spoken Brittany bounced from the room.

"As I was saying," Rachel huffed which made Quinn chuckle slightly, "I wanted to ask you something."

Quinn nodded.

"Will you come to New York with me?" Rachel asked as calmly as she could eyeing Quinn closely who _still _wasn't showing any signs of emotion.

A few minutes of silence passed before the brunette spoke again, her tone of voice notably deflated.

"It's a big question and I know it's a lot to consider but I really _really _love you Quinn," Rachel said reaching into the pocket of her dress. Out of it she pulled a small black box.

Quinn eyed it suspiciously continuing to say nothing.

"Mable lost her bracelet so I brought her a new one with just a silver star on, since then I replaced the other two charms," said Rachel holding the bracelet up to the light, examining the dolphin and the sea horse. "I want you to have it."

The blonde's mouth opened to form a perfect "O" as Rachel took the bracelet from the box and began to fasten it around Quinn's wrist when she heard no objections.

Then suddenly out of the blue a faint and mumbled, "Yes" protruded from the blondes mouth.

Rachel did a double take just as she'd finished fastening the bracelet watching it glisten in the moonlight that now streamed through the window.

"Wh – what?"

"I said yes," Quinn said again but this time a little louder and with more confidence.

"You really mean that?" Rachel asked.

A grin spread across Quinn's face and she nodded enthusiastically. Rachel screamed and jumped up and down on the spot clapping her hands together before pulling Quinn to her feet and embracing her tightly.

As Quinn breathed in the sweet vanilla smell of Rachel's hair her thoughts wandered to the past few months. So much had happened and yet it didn't seem that long ago that Quinn was in the exact same kitchen but this time telling Rachel how she felt, now she was here again but making plans moving to New York with her. A lot had changed. Quinn's mind jumped to the conversation she'd had with Puck and a wave of guilt washed over her. She tried to convince herself that she was just caught up in the moment and that she didn't really want to leave with Rachel but it didn't work. She reminded herself of Puck and his advice and how he'd want her to go with Rachel and do everything and have everything she'd ever wanted.

A small smile crept across her face.

For once everything was going to be okay.

Quinn pulled out of the embrace and looked Rachel in the eyes. For a moment she got lost in the deep pools of chocolate but quickly racked her brain to remember why she'd pulled away in the first place. Within a split second Quinn's lips collided with Rachel's frantically moving against one another and dancing a perfect rhythm. The girls stayed like that for almost five minutes, mentally compelling themselves to take it no further, especially not on Puck's kitchen table.

"Ew," Santana said completely revolted leaning on the door frame.

Rachel and Quinn pulled apart smiling at one another before linking hands.

"You'll make me sick one day," Santana continued.

"Just because you'll never have anything to be happy about," Rachel chimed before letting go of the blonde's hand skipping from the room no doubt off to tell everybody their big news.

Quinn stayed rooted to the spot, a grin tugging at her lips.

"What's got you all chirpy?" Santana asked nonchalantly.

"Oh nothing," Quinn teased a smile growing ever wider.

Santana mock gagged and before she knew what was happening the truth was bursting from the blondes mouth without a second thought to the consequences.

"Rachel asked me to go to New York with her."

"At last," Santana replied, "I thought she'd never ask.

Quinn's grin now reached from ear to ear and she bounded forward to hug Santana.

"I'm being molested," Santana shouted and Quinn just laughed.

The girls walked, arms linked, back to the heart of the party where the rest of the glee club was waiting with a glass or beer can in hand ready to toast Quinn and Rachel.

"What about Yale?" Santana whispered into Quinn's ear.

"What about it?" Quinn asked, "You have one life, one chance and I'm not risking losing Rachel and having to search the world again for her. I can have any career, any house, any car, any life, but it won't be complete unless I have her there. This is my chance Santana, this is it and I know that _that feeling_ won't be disappearing anytime soon."

Santana smiled back at her friend knowing that exactly what she said was true. Her eyes darted to the blonde lying spread-eagled on the couch and Quinn's words echoed in her head. Quinn had taken her chance, now it was Santana's time to take hers.

"We seem to be saying this a lot lately, "Santana laughed, "but to Quinn and Rachel!" and everybody raised their glasses once more.

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><p><strong>Once again thank-you for all of your support. This was my first ever fanfiction and my mistakes have been endless especially holes in the plot but thank-you for bearing with them all and I'll learn from all of these mistakes for future fics.<strong>

**My sole goal will now be to finish of _When I Deserve You_. Thank-you everyone, and I'm sad to say it, but this is the end.****  
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